Other Groups File Claims Against Government Accountability Board

Last week, Wisconsin Right to Life filed a challenge in the Eastern District Federal Court asking that the new Government Accountability Board regulation on free speech be declared unconstitutional. Club for Growth and One Wisconsin Now filed a separate and different challenge in the Western District Federal Court.

Now, six more organizations have appealed to the State Supreme Court to strike down the new regulation. And, yesterday, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued a formal opinion on the impact of the Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year in regulating speech.

The Van Hollen opinion is interesting. He states that “the reasoning and conclusion of Citizens United are clearly applicable and that any ban on corporate independent expenditures under Wisconsin law violates the guarantees of freedom of speech and association under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” He also cautions that while Citizens United does not necessarily prohibit regulations, it does not “independently authorize regulatory action. Only state law may do so, and those laws must pass ‘exacting scrutiny’ to be constitutional.”

You may wonder, why the fuss? We thought McCain/Feingold was bad – and it was. McCain/Feingold prohibited speech only in broadcast ads. The GAB rule regulates all speech – print, broadcast, Internet, email, etc. As one of the groups pointed out, it may impact a farmer who wants to speak about issues by painting a sing on his barn.

This issue is about America and the freedom we enjoy as citizens and as citizens who gather together to petition the government to express our opinions. At least, until now.

Barbara Lyons