Judge had denied Port of Portland’s request to stay decision that Port violated Oregon Constitution when it refused ad because of its content

January 1, 2014 — An anti-clearcutting ad began running at the Portland airport on New Year’s Day following a Multnomah County Circuit Court refusal to issue a stay on its earlier decision that the Port of Portland had violated the free speech rights of a coalition of conservation organizations when it refused to run the ad.

The rulings came in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU Foundation of Oregon which was handled by ACLU volunteer cooperating attorney Tom Christ. The initial Multnomah County Circuit Court ruling on December 13 held that the Port, which manages the airport, had violated the Oregon Constitution’s free expression protections when it rejected the ad because it dealt with a “political” issue.

“The court followed well established principles of freedom of expression under the Oregon Bill of Rights,” said David Fidanque, Executive Director of the ACLU of Oregon. “We had hoped that this would put an end to censorship at the airport, but unfortunately the Port has announced it will appeal the trial court’s ruling.”

The ad is part of a statewide campaign funded by Oregon Wild, The Sierra Club, Audubon Society of Portland, and the Center for Biological Diversity. It features a post-card like design and a photograph of a clearcut in Oregon’s Coast Range, with the tag line “Welcome to Oregon, Home of the Clearcut!” A version of the ad had run earlier at the Eugene Airport without controversy.

The case raised issues similar to another ACLU case involving a proposed ad rejected by Tri-Met, Karuk Tribe v. Tri-Met, which is awaiting a decision in the Oregon Supreme Court. Both the trial court and the Oregon Court of Appeals have held that Tri-Met violated the free speech rights of the conservation groups in that case who had sought to place an ad in Tri-Met vehicles in opposition to effects that dams on the Klamath River have had on salmon runs.

Oral arguments before the Oregon Supreme Court in that case took place in February 2012.