Man Sues School District for Rejecting Religious Ad
Charging that his 1st Amendment rights were infringed, a man who tried to rent a poster listing the Ten Commandments in the outfield of a Downey High School baseball diamond has sued the city’s school district.
Businessman Edward Di Loreto said he was trying to instill moral values by renting the $400 advertising space. Revenues from the posters were to benefit the school’s sports programs.
But acting amid other controversies surrounding the same poster space, the school board instead decided last fall to take down all outfield ads at Downey and Warren high schools.
School district attorney Nancy Lamb said a Norwalk Superior Court judge recently granted the district’s request that the case be heard in a federal court because it alleges violations of federal and state law. Di Loreto’s lawyers are fighting the transfer.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
