Media Alliance v. City of Troy (Challenging city’s closing of a controversial art exhibit)

This lawsuit challenges the closing of an arts and media center on purported building code violations after a controversial art exhibit opened there. The Sanctuary was ordered closed on March 11, 2008, a day after the opening of Iraqi-American artist Wafaa Bilal’s digital art installation, “Virtual Jihadi.”

The NYCLU filed suit on June 9, 2009 on behalf of the Media Alliance, a non-profit organization that operates the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy. The lawsuit maintains that Troy’s public works commissioner, who oversees building code enforcement and had led protests of the exhibit, used his official powers to have the building closed, violating the Media Alliance’s First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly, and its due process and equal protection rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments.

In February 2012, a federal judge approved a settlement agreement ending the lawsuit. Under the settlement, the city will help Media Alliance apply for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. If the National Endowment for the Arts awards the grant, the city agreed to provide up to $50,000 in matching funds. The city’s match is contingent on Media Alliance receiving the grant. The city also agreed to pay Media Alliance $5,000.

N.D.N.Y., Index No. 09 CIV 00659 (direct)