THE ISSUE: After a debate sparked by two bus ads, one by Pamela Geller and one by the Church of Reconciliation, the Chapel Hill Town Council recently found it was using an incorrect policy. The council will discuss today if the policy should allow political and religious advertising to run on town bus lines.
Read Cody Welton’s counterpoint.
When crafting its new policy on bus ads, the town of Chapel Hill shouldn’t categorically disallow political and religious ads.
The Church of Reconciliation and Pamela Geller of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, the respective sponsors of the two ads, both have a right to their own views. But freedom of thought is not in dispute here.
The real question is what sort of speech should be allowed in ads on Chapel Hill Transit buses.
My colleague, Cody, is making the case that all religious or political ads should be allowed. He argues that keeping people from being offended isn’t worth violating the First Amendment.
In a number of other contexts, I would agree. But speech can’t be abstracted from the setting in which it occurs.
These are bus ads. Their main purpose is to raise revenue for the town of Chapel Hill. Their main purpose is not the creation of an open space for discussion. A bus may be public, but it is not designed for debates.
That being said, the town should give Chapel Hill Transit the ability to consider which ads it will run on a case-by-case basis.
