Statement from the Law Offices of David Yerushalmi, P.C.: The complaint against the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority has now been filed. It alleges violation of the American Freedom Defense Initiative’s (and Pamela Geller’s and Robert Spencer’s) Free Speech rights under the First & Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
In essence, and it is laid out clearly in the complaint (attached above) with clear illustrations in the exhibits, the MTA decided that it was going to accept the “viewpoint” of Imam Rauf and his Islamist co-conspirators – to wit, that their plan to develop the Ground Zero Mosque has nothing to do with marking the “victory” of the destruction of human life and property on 9-11. Literally, the MTA made it its business to decide which of many viewpoints it would deem politically correct speech for advertisements on its buses. In so doing, the MTA refused to run a bus ad critical of the Ground Zero Mosque literally because the ad did not accept Rauf’s deceit that this obscenity is “brotherly” and “interfaith outreach.” The only outreach our clients see is a slap in the face of the 9-11 families and those New Yorkers whose memories remained charred.
What makes this jihad against free speech so egregious is that the MTA has run any number of controversial religious and political ads without batting an eyelid. But as soon as the Shariah-faithful cowed Mayor Bloomberg and the MTA into dhimmi-like submission, the First Amendment to the Constitution gave way to Shariah’s blasphemy laws. How long before the Mayor’s office begins issuing fatwas against those who dare counter the “noble and peaceful outreach” narrative?
Mr. Mayor and your colleagues at the MTA and the Landmark Commission: New Yorkers will not forget 9-11 and we will not be cowed into submission or silence. You might not want to hear our voices, but the federal courts will require you to listen. You claim the mantle of the Constitution as a basis for supporting a Shariah-Islamist mosque at Ground Zero, yet the MTA—a government agency of the City—cavalierly denies “infidels” freedom of speech. Enough is enough.
David Yerushalmi, Esq. Law Offices of David Yerushalmi, P.C.
www.davidyerushalmilaw.com
Update 8-8-10: Our clients just issued this press release.
First Update 8-9-10: Defendants served with Summons & Complaint and with proposed Order to Show Cause for Temporary Restraining Order/Preliminary Injunction enjoining the MTA from refusing to run the original Ground Zero Mosque ↔ 9-11 Why There? bus advertisement.
Second Update 8-9-10 (4:38pm): Having been formally servied with the Summons, Complaint and proposed temporary restraining order, MTA and CBS threw in the towel. The original Ground Zero Bus Advertisement—plane, flames, and all—will run. We will issue a press release on this victory not just as a defense of the First Amendment. But also a victory against the Bloomberg-style bullying meant to shut down full-throated public debate over the connection between the existential jihad threat this country faces and Islamic terrorists who engage in both violent and stealth jihad to impose Shariah on the infidel.
We've uploaded above the proposed Order to Show Cause with our client's (Pam Geller's) declaration with all the facts laid out under oath, and our Memorandum of Law supporting the OSC.
Third Update 8-9-10 (8:45pm): Our press release is available above.
For a very good news broadcast, click on the video here or just below.
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For the local CBS affiliate's story and television broadcast, click here. Our only criticism of this presentation is the use of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a legitimate counterpoint. CAIR, of course, is a criminal organization created by Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood to pursue their agenda of "Civilization Jihad" in the guise of "civil rights." .
Final Update 8-23-10: Our clients agreed to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit against the MTA once the MTA ran the ads as contracted and only after the MTA (or its advertisig agent, CBS Outdoor) provided a declaration under penalty of perjury stating that the ads had been posted as required by the contract. The general counsel for CBS Outdoor, David Posy, provided the declaraion and we filed the Notice of Voluntary Dismissal (without prejudice) and attached the Posy Declaration as part of the court record. We have uploaded the Notice and it is available above.
