If Thomas Paine were around these days, I suspect some degenerate 527 lawyer would sue, demanding that he and the printer of Common Sense register as an “issue committee.”
It’s gotten that ridiculous around here.
Last summer, two residents of Parker North decided they wanted their small community of around 300 homes to be annexed by incorporated Parker next door.
When some of the local neighbors caught wind of the impending vote, they began convincing their neighbors that the idea was awful.
“While we’d be paying more sales tax, we would be getting a lot less,” explains Parker North resident Karen Sampson. “Even recently … Douglas County, for instance, has done a wonderful job of plowing our street, and in Parker – you know, they were struggling.”
Independently, they began to act. One neighbor started printing up fliers. Another initiated a discussion on tax implications. Yet another began pulling together yard signs in opposition.
Soon enough this modest group – many of whom had never participated in a political campaign – began finding one another and spreading the word.
Sounds like participatory democracy at work, right?
Or not.
In Colorado, when two or more citizens join together for a political cause and spend more than $200 in the pursuit of the cause, they must register with the state. They must then disclose all their “contributions” and “expenditures.”
Disclosing the identities of contributors means the state will post the donor’s address – if your donor gives you a couple hundred bucks, the state posts the donor’s address and employer.
Sampson found that many potential allies in Parker North were turned off by having to publicly participate.
As this group of concerned neighbors had never heard of “issue committees” or 527s, they soon found themselves in even more trouble.
Turns out that anyone in Colorado can file a lawsuit against neighbors who engage in political speech without a license. This means if you’re unaware of all the legalities, some well-funded opposition group can hire a lawyer and shut you up with a lawsuit.
Is that what clean government is supposed to be about?
This particular group of neighbors got themselves an attorney and fought back.
The libertarian Institute for Justice in Washington, best known for its role in the Kelo eminent domain case, challenged the law on behalf of six neighbors.
“It really demonstrates what’s wrong with campaign finance laws,” Steve Simpson, an Institute for Justice senior attorney, tells me. “They affect everyone, not just national politicians or national political parties. There are a lot of burdensome registrations that a common person simply shouldn’t have to deal with.”
Institute for Justice filed a federal lawsuit Sept. 19 in Denver. And though the case is still pending, last Tuesday, the annexation of Parker North was defeated at the polls by a 351-21 vote.
“I think that if we had not fought back against this lawsuit, the outcome would have been different,” says Sampson. “Most people would never have known that an election was coming up, and most people would not have come out to vote.”
Sampson bristles at the thought of people calling her group an issue committee: “We’re just a bunch of neighbors.”
When we pass laws to rein in politicians who can’t control themselves, we should remember that there are unintended consequences.
What we need really need are clean politicians – not more laws to look after them.
As a matter of fact, many of these overbearing laws may inadvertently be pushing the common citizen out of the political process.
“Our clients learned the hard way that in America you need more than an opinion to speak out about politics,” Simpson asserts. “Today, you also need a lawyer. If we want political speech to remain free, that has to change.”
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
