Michael A. Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation (513 U.S. 374)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 21, 1995 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 513 U.S. 374 · 115 S. Ct. 961
- Decided
- February 21, 1995
- Term
- October Term 1994
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case we consider whether actions of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, commonly known as Amtrak, are subject to the constraints of the Constitution. I Petitioner, Michael A. Lebrón, creates billboard displays that involve commentary on public issues, and that seemingly propel him into litigation. See, e. g., Lebron v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 749 F. 2d 893 (CADC 1984). In August 1991, he contacted Transportation Displays, Incorporated (TDI), which manages the leasing of the billboards in Amtrak’s Pennsylvania Station in New York City, seeking to display an advertisement on a billboard of colossal proportions, known to New Yorkers (or at least to the more Damon Runyonesque among them) as “the Spectacular.” The Spectacular is a curved, illuminated billboard, approximately 103 feet long and 10 feet high, which dominates the main entrance to Penn Station’s waiting room and ticket area. On November 30,1992, Lebrón signed a contract with TDI to display an advertisement on the Spectacular for two months beginning in January 1993. The contract provided that “[a]ll advertising copy is subject to approval of TDI and [Amtrak] as to character, text, illustration, design and operation.” App. 671. Lebrón declined to disclose the specific content of his advertisement throughout his negotiations with…
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