A federal appeals court has upheld a suburban Detroit bus system's refusal to put anti-Muslim ads on its buses.
The ads read in part, "Fatwa on your head? Is your family or community threatening you? Leaving Islam?" And publicized a website called refugefromislam.com.
SMART rejected the ads as too political.
The American Freedom Defense Initiative sued on free speech and equal protection grounds, and a lower court ruled against SMART.
But the U.S. Sixth Circuit reversed that ruling. It said the ad suggests that Muslim-Americans who decide to leave Islam will be threatened or killed. The court said SMART's restrictions on advertisements are reasonable, and don't violate the First Amendment.
