FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2013
MEDIA CONTACT
Maurice A . Thompson
(614) 340-9817
Federal Court: SB 47 Restrictions on Petition Circulation
Unconstitutional
Key features of Senate
Bill 47 "reform" violate First Amendment speech
and associational rights
of Ohioans, restrict free trade
Columbus, OH - A federal court late yesterday
enjoined the state from enforcing Senate Bill 47's new limits on Ohioans'
Initiative and Referendum rights. Specifically, the Court held that Ohio's new
ban on Ohioans contracting with non-Ohioans to circulate initiative petitions
violates Ohioans' First Amendment Rights.
The ruling, made
by Judge Watson of the Columbus division of the Southern District of Ohio, paves
the way for Ohioans advancing the Workplace Freedom Amendment and other
freedom-oriented ballot issues to resume association and contracts with
professional out-of-state signature gatherers.
The legal action
was filed on behalf of Ohioans for Workplace Freedom and Cincinnati for Pension
Reform. OWF is currently gathering signatures to place a right-to-work amendment
before voters; and CPR incurred significant additional last-minute costs
attempting to utilize only in-state petitioners.
In his 27 page
decision, Judge Watson, explained that "petition circulation - whether for
candidates or issues - constitutes core political speech protected by the First
Amendment," and "laws prohibiting nonresidents from acting as petition
circulators significantly burden political speech because they substantially
reduce the number of petition circulators and are therefore subject to strict
scrutiny."
The Order
concluded as follows: "The Court holds that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on
the merits of their claim that R.C. 3503.06(C)(1)(a) violates the First
Amendment because it substantially burdens core political speech and is not
narrowly tailored to serve Ohio's compelling interest in curbing fraud in the
election process."
The lawsuit
sought to restore Ohioans freedom to contract or associate with any and all
American citizens to convey their message and advance their issue to the ballot.
The lawsuit further seeks to invalidate the prohibition, applicable only to
those associated with the issue, on gathering signatures during certain critical
periods.
"We're grateful
for the Court's thorough ruling. This Act is a set of back-door tactics to
effectively eliminate initiative and referendum in Ohio, by eliminating many of
those who do the actual work of gathering signatures on important issues" said
Maurice Thompson, Executive Director of the 1851 Center.
"Initiative and
referendum supply an important check on arbitrary government, and also supply
citizens with the opportunity to act as civic adults - - taking the lawmaking
power into their own hands rather than begging the legislature for change."
The only attempt
at using exclusively in-state circulators since the new statute's enactment, a
referendum effort on behalf of internet sweepstakes businesses, had failed
dramatically, with less than 37 percent of submitted signatures found to be
valid.
Read
the Court's Order Granting Ohioans for Workplace Freedom's Motion for
Preliminary Injunction HERE.
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