Producers’ Free Speech Claims Against Public TV Advance

• Public access channels are public forums, Second Circuit holds

• Holding creates circuit split with D.C. Circuit

A First Amendment suit against operators of a public access channel in New York City that refused to run a program about a media center in East Harlem will proceed after a federal appeals ruling Feb. 9.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that public access channels are electronic versions of public squares and are thus public forums, creating a circuit split with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Here, two television producers filmed an event hosted ...