Victory for the First Amendment in Santa Ana

This article was originally posted on the California Policy Center website and can be found here.

Longtime teacher Brenda Lebsack noticed some disconcerting statistics coming out of the Santa Ana Unified School District. Only 30% of students are proficient in reading and 20% are proficient in math, but graduation rates are at 91%. To raise awareness in the community, she called the City of Santa Ana seeking to place the following advertisement on City bus benches and kiosks:

“70% of Santa Ana Unified School District students are not meeting reading standards and 80% are not math proficient.” 

But a representative from the company managing the City’s advertising program denied Lebsack’s ad because the topic is “political.”

California Justice Center president and attorney Julie Hamill notified the City of Santa Ana that the denial of Ms. Lebsack’s application amounts to viewpoint discrimination by a government entity and a prior restraint of free speech which are unconstitutional under the First Amendment. California Policy Center is supporting Lebsack in her request that the City of Santa Ana approve her proposed ad and revise its existing advertising standards. 

Read the letter to the City of Santa Ana from the California Justice Center here.

Read CPC president Will Swaim’s op-ed here. 

Following receipt of our letter, the City of Santa Ana stated that it will revise its unconstitutional standards and run Ms. Lebsack’s advertisement.

Support California Policy Center here.