Free Speech

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): New Free Speech History Podcast (First Episode: Ancient Athens)

By Eugene Volokh

It’s by Jacob Mchangama, and presented by (among others) the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education…

Subscribe to it, as I have, via http://www.freespeechhistory.com/; I listened to the Ancient Athens episode (the only one out so far, besides the introduction), and found it very interesting. Mchangama is a Danish human rights lawyer, who has worked extensively on free speech and who has taught international human rights law at the University of Copenhagen.

The Courts

Austin American-Statesman: Ruling rejects Austin’s old fundraising window. What about the new one?

By Elizabeth Findell

Former City Council Member Don Zimmerman’s mixed victory in his fight against Austin campaign finance rules will stand, an appeals court ruled Thursday.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court’s ruling from 2016 that struck down two provisions of Austin’s campaign finance rules and left two others in place. Most notably, the decision held that Austin could not justify a blackout period that prohibited candidates from fundraising until a certain period of time before an election…

The appeals court also sided with Zimmerman over a “dissolution requirement” that said elected officials could not use campaign money for future races, rejecting Austin’s argument that Zimmerman lacked standing to challenge it, and finding that use of the money for campaigns amounted to freedom of speech.

The court sided with the city of Austin in upholding a campaign contribution limit of $350 per donor in an election cycle and a rule that a candidate cannot raise more than $36,000 total from donors who live outside of Austin’s city limits.

Najvar plans to continue fighting on those fronts. Zimmerman intends to file a motion for the entire 5th Circuit to rehear the case, he said.

IRS

Wall Street Journal: The IRS Campaign Against Israel-and Us

By Lori Lowenthal Marcus

The first IRS viewpoint discrimination case to be filed, Z Street v. IRS, has been settled, with disturbing revelations about how the Internal Revenue Service treated pro-Israel organizations applying for tax-exempt status.

I founded Z Street in 2009 to educate Americans about the Middle East and Israel’s defense against terror. We applied for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code in December 2009-a process that usually takes three to six months.

Instead, the application languished. In late July 2010, an IRS agent truthfully responded to our lawyer’s query about why processing was taking so long: Z Street’s application was getting special scrutiny, the agent said, because it was related to Israel. Some applications for tax-exempt status were being sent to a special office in Washington for review of whether the applicants’ policy positions conflicted with those of the Obama administration.

So in August 2010 we sued the IRS for violating Z Street’s constitutional rights, including the First Amendment right to be free from viewpoint discrimination-government treatment that differs depending on one’s political position.

Now we know the truth, and it’s exactly as bad as we thought.

Wisconsin John Doe

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: John Doe judge gives attorneys long list of questions over Gov. Scott Walker probe and contempt request

By Jeff Bollier and Patrick Marley

A judge peppered two dozen attorneys with questions Thursday about how much authority he has to oversee an attempt to sanction nine officials for their handling of a John Doe investigation that was ended in 2015.

Brown County Circuit Judge Kendall Kelley gave attorneys 60 days to file briefs on a host of questions that will determine whether the yearslong proceedings can continue. The matter started as an investigation into Wisconsin Republicans but has developed into an attempt to find prosecutors and investigators in contempt of court.

Among those attending Thursday’s hearing was Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, the Democrat who launched the John Doe probe of GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and other Republicans. The state Supreme Court terminated the probe in 2015, finding nothing illegal occurred.

Chisholm is not among those GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel wants held in contempt, but some of his aides are.

The States

Bismarck Tribune: Proposed ballot measured filed by North Dakotans for Public Integrity

The North Dakota Anti-Corruption Amendment has been filed with the Secretary of State as a proposed 2018 ballot measure to amend the state consitution backed by North Dakotans for Public Integrity.

Key provisions of the North Dakota Anti-Corruption Amendment include:

Prohibits campaign contributions and election spending by foreign countries, foreign corporations and foreign nationals.

Protects the ban on personal use of campaign contributions for personal expenses by enshrining it in the constitution.

Requires that all significant amounts of money raised or spent to influence elections be fully disclosed and placed online for the public to see.

Restricts lobbyist gifts to public officials.

Bans elected public officials from also serving as lobbyists, and makes it illegal for public officials to take jobs as lobbyists for two years after leaving office.

Strengthens conflict-of-interest rules for members of state agencies.

Creates a nonpartisan ethics commission to receive and investigate ethics complaints, set ethics rules and provide ethics training programs.

La Crosse Tribune: ‘Impeach’ sign OK to go up at West Avenue home for now; ACLU defends La Crosse man against city

By Jourdan Vian

“After it was up for a couple weeks, I got a letter saying that the sign was in violation of city ordinance and I needed to take it down,” Lawrence said.

The letter, dated July 11, 2017, informed him that the sign was too large to be placed in his yard. It needed to be about three square feet shorter to meet city ordinance.

“I said, ‘OK, I’m going to take it down to 12 square feet and put it back up,'” he said.

He did exactly that, which prompted a second order to take the sign down, saying it was still too large.

“I didn’t go along with that,” Lawrence said.

Instead, Lawrence brought the case to a lawyer he knows, who recommended he contact the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin…

According to the city’s legal department, the size of a typical yard sign, such as a for-sale sign, is limited to two-square-feet and political signs have more freedom to be larger.

“The code we have grants more rights for political speech than any other kind of speech,” Matty said.

However, in light of a 2015 Supreme Court ruling that prohibits regulating signs based on what they say, the city rescinded the order to remove the sign.

Annapolis Capital Gazette: P.G. County campaign finance bill introduced

By John McNamara

[Prince George’s County Council member Mary Lehman is] 

introducing legislation this week to establish a “Fair Election Fund” that would enable political candidates to get matching funds from the county if they meet certain criteria with their fund-raising.

Lehman is the lead sponsor of the bill; she also has three more co-sponsors. Five votes would be needed to pass the legislation (CB-4-2018), which Lehman said is endorsed by Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker…

Candidates who want public funding can only accept donations from county residents and no donation can be larger than $150.

To prove their viability, candidates for county executive must raise at least $40,000 from 500 qualifying contributors under the proposed legislation. At-large council candidates need to have raised $15,000 from 250 qualified donors. Those seeking a district council seat need to raise $7,500 from 150 contributors to qualify for public funding.

Contributions of up to $25 would be matched at a 7-to-1 ratio. Larger donations would be matched at a less generous rate, with a $150 donation earning a candidate $300 in public funding.

Observer: Independent Spending Up 11,458 Percent in New Jersey Campaigns Since 2005

By Jeff Brindle

Spending by the so-called Big Six committees-the two state parties and four legislative leadership PACs-was 32 percent less last year than in 2005. Combined county committee spending was down 26 percent over the 12-year period.

So, the parties significantly decreased their financial activity in the face of tremendous growth in spending by outside groups.

At this rate, without reform, political parties in New Jersey will go the way of dinosaurs by the gubernatorial and legislative elections of 2021.

The candidates themselves faired a bit better-but not much. Even in their cases, the tide is turning, flowing in the direction of independent groups.

The handwriting is on the wall. If N.J. Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC)-recommended changes are not made to the campaign finance system that strengthen political parties and offset the growing clout of independent groups, the electoral system in New Jersey will be unrecognizable in a very short number of years.