Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation

Argued November 7, 1994
Decided February 21, 1995
Full case name Michael A. Lebron, Petitioner v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation
Citations

513 U.S. 374 (more)

115 S. Ct. 961; 130 L. Ed. 2d 902; 1995 U.S. LEXIS 909; 63 U.S.L.W. 4109; 95 Cal. Daily Op. Service 1228; 95 Daily Journal DAR 2219; 8 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 564
Prior history On writ of cert. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Holding
Amtrak is a government actor for the purposes of the First Amendment and is subject to its provisions.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Case opinions
Majority Scalia, joined by Rehnquist, Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer
Dissent O'Connor
Laws applied
U.S. Const. Amend. I

Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation, 513 U.S. 374 (1995), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Amtrak is a government agency and thus is subject to the First Amendment.

Background

Michael A. Lebron rented a large billboard in Amtrak's Penn Station. The advertisement was highly critical of the Coors Brewing Company for their support of the Contras in Nicaragua. The railroad turned down the ad because it was political, although the particular point of view was not an issue.

Decision

Even though Amtrak is not incorporated as a government agency, it largely functions as one. Similar to the ruling in Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, the court found that the public and private entities functioned together to the point where Amtrak was covered by the First Amendment.

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 2/2/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.