SEATTLE, WA — A ruling was handed down on Tuesday, Feb. 22 by a federal judge stating that county officials didn’t violate First Amendment rights by refusing to run ads with the subject matter of Israeli war crimes on public buses, according to a report by Commentary Magazine’s website. The prospective ads were sponsored by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign. The Washington Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had taken up the case and argued that the ads were unconstitutional.

The judge said that officials had a reasonable basis for limiting the content of the ads on public buses, citing safety concerns in part because “threats of violence and disruption from members of the public (from e-mails, phone calls, and anonymous photographs) led bus drivers and law enforcement officials to express safety concerns, and the court finds that it was reasonable” for the cancellation of the ads according to court documents.

The Washington ACLU said it will continue to pursue the case by appealing the judge’s decision or through a District Court trial.