Have a question or issue in campaign law? Contact us and we'll try to answer you. Enter your e-mail below:
Learn more about...
Interested in a specific subject? Click here to browse our blog by subject area.
Blog Roll
AFJ Nonprofit Advocacy Blog
Beltway Blogroll
Campaign Legal Center blog
Cato Unbound
Common Cause Blog
Division of Labour
First Amendment Center
Going to the Mat
Instapundit.com
The Lonely Centrist
Michael Barone
More Soft Money Hard Law (Bob Bauer)
Political Activity Law
Public Citizen WatchdogBlog
RedState
Rick Hasen's Election Law Blog
Sabato's Crystal Ball
The Volokh Conspiracy
Votelaw
|
|
Robocalls in Court
Published on May 12, 2008
by Michael Schrimpf
As the thought of regulating political robocalls continues to be bandied about Washington, the Indiana Supreme Court is taking on directly the question of whether the state of Indiana can use an existing statute to ban political robocalls.
According to a press release issued by Jim Bopp, "The case, State of Indiana v. American Family Voices, Inc., was initiated by the State of Indiana against American Family Voices and others for using automatic dialing machines to make political calls during the 2006 election cycle. The case was dismissed by the trial court, based on the Defendant's argument that the statute only prohibited commercial calls. The Attorney General appealed and the case was taken up directly by the Indiana Supreme Court, bypassing the Court of Appeals."
In the release, Bopp states, "The First Amendment and the Indiana Constitution protect all political speech, including computer-generated political calls. The Indiana Supreme Court should interpret the statute to only apply to commercial calls leaving intact the robust political arena that the First Amendment was designed to protect."
Oral Arguments appear to be scheduled for Monday, June 16th, at 1:00 p.m. and you should be able to watch HERE.
