This month, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reinforced a 2010 ruling regarding groups that spend small amounts of money on ballot measure. (Thinkstock)
Re: Colorado s broken campaign rules, March 16 editorial.
I know firsthand the burdens of Colorado s campaign-finance laws. In 2006, some neighbors and I planted yard signs against annexation of our neighborhood into the town of Parker. We spent less than $1,000. But other neighbors who wanted annexation sued us for violations of campaign finance law.
We were forced to hire an attorney and undergo four years of litigation defending ourselves in court and then challenging the constitutionality of the law, which the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately held violated our First Amendment rights.
But here we are, six years after that ruling, and nothing has changed. Small, grassroots groups of Colorado citizens still cannot speak freely without running the risk of being sued for violating Colorado s burdensome and unconstitutional campaign finance laws. That has to stop. The Colorado legislature must take action to ensure that its citizens First Amendment rights receive the protection they deserve.
Karen Sampson, Parker
This letter was published in the March 22 edition.Your editorial rightly criticizes the low dollar threshold that triggers Colorado s campaign-finance laws. But an even bigger problem is that, under Colorado law, literally any person can file a private lawsuit to enforce the state s byzantine campaign-finance code.
Predictably, this system has led to widespread abuse. Politicos routinely use enforcement suits to harass their ideological opponents. One of Colorado s most prolific complaint-filers has even touted the system as a way to wage political guerilla legal warfare on viewpoints he dislikes.
A law that invites this sort of anti-speech vigilantism cannot be squared with the First Amendment. That is why Tammy Holland — a small-town mom who was twice targeted by abusive enforcement suits — has filed a civil-rights lawsuit to declare Colorado s private-enforcement law unconstitutional. No matter how you feel about Colorado s campaign finance laws, this is a necessary fix that people of all political leanings should be able to get behind.
Sam Gedge, Arlington, Va.
The writer is an attorney at the Institute for Justice.
This letter was published in the March 22 edition.
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