From LYVEF: Victory for Voter Education
Flashback: 2006. Pittsburgh LYVEF and the ACLU of PA want to put ads on
buses, encouraging the formerly incarcerated to vote. Seems like a
great program, right? The Port Authority of Allegheny County didn't
seem to think so, denying LYVEF and the ACLU-PA the right to tell
voters of their civil rights, establishing that they did not allow ads
that were "noncommercial".
However, many of the ads on Pittsburgh buses are of a non-profit, civic minded nature.
After heated debate amongst both parties, Pittsburgh LYVEF and ACLU-PA
decided to file a lawsuit against the Port Authority, claiming that the
Port Authority was hampering civic education and the "public-education
initiative launched by a coalition of local groups that seeks to
increase civic engagement by formerly incarcerated ex-offenders".
Three years later, Pittsburgh LYVEF is proud to announce that they have
been victorious in their court case against the Port Authority, paving
the way for civic education and public education advertisements in the
future, for The League, ACLU-PA as well as other groups around the
county and state. The decision is a landmark one in establishing that
advertisements can, in fact, serve a great public good.

