Feb. 2: Liberty Justice Center and Vugo to announce lawsuit challenging Chicago’s ordinance against advertising in ridesharing vehicles

January 27, 2017

CHICAGO (Jan. 27, 2016) – At a press conference scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 2, the Liberty Justice Center will announce a new lawsuit challenging an ordinance prohibiting advertising in ridesharing vehicles in Chicago. In 2014, the city of Chicago passed the ordinance at issue to regulate ridesharing vehicles. Among the regulations was a prohibition on...

CHICAGO (Jan. 27, 2016) – At a press conference scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 2, the Liberty Justice Center will announce a new lawsuit challenging an ordinance prohibiting advertising in ridesharing vehicles in Chicago.

In 2014, the city of Chicago passed the ordinance at issue to regulate ridesharing vehicles. Among the regulations was a prohibition on commercial advertising in the interior and on the exterior of ridesharing vehicles. In contrast, the city allows advertising in the interior and on the exterior of taxicabs.

The Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center and Minneapolis-based Vugo Inc. are challenging the city’s prohibition, which violates the right to free speech and equal protection under the U.S. and Illinois constitutions by discriminating against ridesharing vehicles in favor of taxicabs.

The lawsuit will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

WHAT: Press conference announcing a lawsuit challenging Chicago’s ordinance prohibiting advertising in ridesharing vehicles

WHEN: 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 2

WHERE: 190 S. LaSalle St. (corner of Adams and LaSalle streets), 40th floor, Chicago

WHO: Jeffrey Schwab, staff attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, and Rob Flessner, co-founder of Vugo

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For bookings or interviews, contact: Melanie Krakauer, 312-980-1259 

The Liberty Justice Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan litigation center dedicated to advancing liberty, limiting government and defending the rights secured by the Illinois and U.S. constitutions. The Liberty Justice Center pursues its goals through strategic, precedent-setting litigation to revitalize constitutional restraints on government power and protections for individual rights. To learn more about the Liberty Justice Center, visit: www.libertyjusticecenter.org.

Vugo Inc. is a technology company that provides interactive advertising and other media, including news and entertainment, displayed on tablet devices inside rideshare vehicles. It currently operates in in Minneapolis and Los Angeles  in the United States. To learn more, visit www.govugo.com.