Taxpayers' organization muzzled by Florida law
Nation's Largest Taxpayer Group Challenges Florida Campaign Law as Violation of First Amendment Rights:
"The 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) today announced it has taken legal action to suspend Florida election laws that would require disclosure of private information about all of its nationwide members -- including more than 24,000 in the state -- simply for communicating with citizens about ballot measures. The Institute for Justice, a well-respected nonprofit public interest law center, is NTU's counsel.
"One of the National Taxpayers Union's core missions is to provide the public with nonpartisan information on important fiscal policy issues," said NTU President Duane Parde, who, along with NTU, is a plaintiff in the case. "Unfortunately, because of the state's harsh and arbitrary statutes, we're unable to share details about amendments to the state constitution affecting fiscal policy that will appear on Florida's ballot next month. These laws not only violate freedom of speech, they also rob Florida voters of information they deserve to see. That's the exact opposite of the principles behind the First Amendment, which is supposed to protect open and robust public debate."
Each year, NTU releases a national guide that provides background information on fiscal measures -- such as income tax reductions or spending increases -- that will appear on state ballots. The guide does not ask voters to support or oppose the measures, but rather informs them how taxpayers could be affected by each initiative. The 2008 guide does not contain information about any of several Florida measures due to the onerous regulations that would violate the privacy of NTU's members.
Under the laws, NTU -- and any entity that even refers to a ballot measure in any publication that goes to the general public -- would have to register as an electioneering communication organization. NTU would have to file itemized disclosure forms listing the name, occupation, and contribution amount, type, and date of every member. NTU first and foremost respects the privacy of its members and donors; however, numerous other problems abound with these burdensome regulations, including that NTU does not request occupation information from its donors and receives many anonymous contributions. Simply gathering and reporting the data for all members would deplete the group's limited staff resources.
"Floridians should be empowered to make an informed decision at the ballot box on all measures," Parde concluded. "They won't be able to do so, however, unless the court steps in to protect the free exchange of ideas that has been significantly jeopardized by the state."
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3 comments:
The solution is to have some kind of a sting of the people who try to carry out such a policy. If they try to punish people for "describing the ballot measures without being registered", then they should be arrested, and prosecuted.
If the courts claim that the people in question are immune from prosecution, we need to find out if the courts are mistaken about such immunity. It they truly are rightly immune, then the only way to keep them from breaking the law would be to imprison the people , not as punishment but as a form of preventing further offense. Surely it must be allowed to keep a criminal from committing an offense, even if you are not allowed to punish for that offense.
Any public official who is a clear risk to the rights of people can be locked up until he is no longer a risk. It is not prosecution , just damage control, even if it takes years for him to stop being a risk.
I wonder if FloriDUH compels ACORN to abide by the same laws.
BTW, to the mindless socialists in FloriDUH. You can not charge someone with electioneering if they're not advocating for a particular candidate or party!
BTW, to the mindless socialists in FloriDUH. You can not charge someone with electioneering if they're not advocating for a particular candidate or party!
This is a great sentiment except for one thing..... the law doesn't say what this group claims it does.
The applicable section of the Florida Statutes is 106.03.
The group has to file the following:
(a) The name and street address of the committee;
(b) The names, street addresses, and relationships of affiliated or connected organizations;
(c) The area, scope, or jurisdiction of the committee;
(d) The name, street address, and position of the custodian of books and accounts;
(e) The name, street address, and position of other principal officers, including officers and members of the finance committee, if any;
IF the committee wants to advocate a candicate or a position, they must file additional papers as well.
The statement "NTU would have to file itemized disclosure forms listing the name, occupation, and contribution amount, type, and date of every member." is patently false. The only time that would be true is if the NTU is advocating a candidate or a position, and even then all they would have to do is supply copies of the paperwork required by Federal law.
I would bet that what the NTU is upset about is that they do advocate positions and candidates, but they want to claim that their "guide" doesn't. The guide is not the issue in Florida law - it is the organization and whether the organization that advocates a position or candidate. As NTU does just that, they don't want the law to be applied to them.
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