7-31-19

The Democrat-heavy council now has adopted a rule requiring that Republican-leaning and conservative companies promote progressive and liberal political views. —

Or pay a $500 daily fine. —

CITY SUED FOR DEMANDING REPUBLICANS PROMOTE … DEMOCRATS!

‘This is a constitutional anathema’

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mayor Chris Taylor is a Democrat. So are council members from Wards 1, 3, 4 and 5.

Ward 2 is the odd one, with Democrat Kathy Griswold and independent Jane Lumm as its representatives.

The Democrat-heavy council now has adopted a rule requiring that Republican-leaning and conservative companies promote progressive and liberal political views.

Or pay a $500 daily fine.

And their move has landed them in court.

The Alliance Defending Freedom on Tuesday announced a lawsuit has been filed against Ann Arbor over its apparent violations of First Amendment freedoms.

The complaint is “under the guise of stopping #discrimination.”

“Ann Arbor passed a law that forces Democrats to create advocacy material supporting conservatives and Republicans and Republicans to create advocacy material supporting liberals under the threat of paying fines up to $500 per day,” the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, states.

“This is a constitutional anathema. Citizens should be free to choose for themselves what they say and what they celebrate – not the government,” it explains. “This lawsuit challenges Ann Arbor’s unjust law for violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments because all Americans, whether conservative or liberal, should have the freedom to advocate for the political views they believe in.”

ADF lawyers are representing a political consulting firm, ThinkRight Strategies, and its owners against the city.

It is challenging the law that forces #ThinkRight and its proprietors, Grant Strobl and Jacob Chludzinski, “to promote political messages and causes that contradict their conservative and religious principles.”

The law bans Strobl and Chludzinki from posting statements on their website that they promote conservative positions and even “requires the firm to seek work promoting progressive political positions if the firm takes certain steps to contact groups and individuals promoting conservative causes.”

Then there’s the $500 a day penalty for #conservatives who won’t promote progressive causes.

“Americans should be free to advocate for the political ideals they cherish,” said ADF Legal Counsel Samuel Green. “Grant and Jacob created their business to advance their conservative political beliefs. But Ann Arbor’s law forces them to use their skills to promote political beliefs they oppose, like #abortion and Ssocialism. This coercion is not just un-American – it’s #unconstitutional.

“While Grant and Jacob will work with anyone when it advances conservative political goals, they cannot use their talents to promote messages or causes that undermine their values.”

READ MORE WND

#corruptpolitics #democrat