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1st Amendment Rights 1 State of Florida 0

Posted on 29 June 2009 by Heath.Whiteaker

Doug Guetzloe

The State of Florida has dropped it’s appeal of Federal Court Judge Stephen Mickle’s ruling that struck down the electioneering statutes in the State of Florida as a violation of an individual’s First Amendment right to unfettered free speech.

The case, Broward Coalition, et al vs. Browning was brought by the Institute for Justice against the state last October.

The State of Florida dropped their appeal last week when they declined to appeal Judge Mickle’s ruling to the Federal District Court of Appeal in Atlanta.  Judge Mickle’s ruling strikes the entire electioneering communications statute and now allows individuals and organizations to speak freely about political issues and candidates.

Specially mentioned in the Judge’s ruling was the statute that State Attorney Lawson L. Lamar used to prosecute anti-tax activist Doug Guetzloe in 2006.  Guetzloe is the only person criminally prosecuted for first amendment free speech under this statute.  Lamar spent nearly a year “investigating” Guetzloe, eventually obtaining all this personal and business bank records and illegally releasing those to the media even though they had nothing to do with the investigation.  Lamar then charged Guetzloe with 14 misdemeanor counts and asked the court to find Guetzloe guilty and sentence him to 14 years in prison for not placing a “paid political advertisement” disclaimer on a campaign flyer.

Judge Jeffrey Arnold, a Lamar ally, then sentenced Guetzloe to 60 days in “work release”; $8,500 fine and 3 years of probation.  During appeals, the 5th District Court of Appeal struck down the absurd sentence and fines and maintained one misdemeanor count for re-sentencing.  Since that time, Judge Mickle enjoined the state from enforcing the law and in a final ruling threw out the entire law.

“Judge Mickle is a hero to the people.  He got it right.  The State of Florida has no right to use election laws to silence the people in their free expression of political ideas and candidates.  This is great day for Florida and a great day for America,” stated Guetzloe, Chairman of the anti-tax, grassroots organization, Ax the Tax.  Guetzloe is also the Host of The Guetzloe Report, a news-talk radio show broadcast every weekday from 11-noon on WEUS AM 810.

What does this ruling mean? For that we asked Doug this evening

Guetzloe has spent in excess of $100,000 defending himself from the vicious political persecution of State Attorney Lamar.  The Guetzloe case has attracted the support of many national conservative organizations that include: Townhall.com; Sam Adams Alliance; Center for Competitive Politics; Citizens in Charge Foundation; NewsMax.com and others.

Guetzloe’s attorney, Fred O’Neal was also very pleased with the ruling and noted that the case law that Judge Mickle used in his ruling was the case law that was provided to State Attorney Lamar’s office when they began their bogus investigation of Guetzloe.

State Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, issued a statement criticizing Secretary of State Kurt Browning’s refusal to appeal, saying it “will essentially allow shadow organizations to funnel millions of dollars to political campaigns without regulation or disclosure.”

Justice’s legislative aide, Bethany Linderman, said he was looking at all his options including new legislation.

The Institute for Justice, a libertarian legal organization based in Arlington, Va., challenged the law on behalf of four nonprofit groups and their leaders

Institute lawyer Bert Gall said Browning’s decision was an acknowledgment that U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle ruled correctly. Mickle wrote that the Legislature has the power to regulate elections but not “purely political discussions about elections.”

“In America, the right to free speech means that the government cannot make it harder for some groups to speak because it doesn’t like what they have to say,” Gall said.

He said Mickle’s ruling is part of a growing body of case law questioning regulations such as Florida’s that have flourished since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal McCain-Feingold law, the popular name for 2002 revisions to the nation’s campaign finance law.

Gall sued on behalf of the Broward Coalition of Condominiums, Homeowners Associations and Community Organizations; University of Florida College Libertarians; National Taxpayers Union and national Taxpayers Union Foundation.

Mickle granted a preliminary injunction in October that prevented the law from being enforced and then issued a final ruling in May.

www.CentralFloridaPolitics.com

 

Doug Guetzloe
Chairman
Ax the Tax
www.AxTheTax.org
P. O. Box 531101
Orlando, FL 32853
Phone: (407) 312-1781
Fax: (407) 895-8331
doug@axthetax.org

 

Doug Guetzloe
Host, The Guetzloe Report
www.guetzloe.com
Talk Radio Big AM 810 WEUS AM
Radio show call-in number:
(40...
Weekdays 11:00-Noon EST
Streaming audio at www.Guetzloe.com 'listen live'
GUETZLOE MEDIA GROUP, Inc.
P. O. Box 531101
Orlando, FL 32853
(407) 312-1781 - phone
(407) 895-8331 - telefax
dougguetzloe@guetzloe.com