On May 18, the 9th circuit heard arguments in Porter v Jones, 06-55517. This case involves California’s attempt to criminalize “vote-trading” web pages. Back in 2000, a group of Gore supporters and Nader supporters jointly set up a web page. It was designed to give Gore supporters in states that were overwhelmingly Republican or overwhelmingly Democratic a chance to help Gore, and at the same time give Nader supporters in close states a chance to help Nader. Strangers would contact each other and pledge to pair their votes. An individual Gore supporter in a safe state would be matched with an individual Nader supporter in a close state. They would communicate with each other, and if each found the other trustworthy, the Gore voter would vote for Nader and the Nader supporter would vote for Gore.

The site was becoming fairly well-known when California’s Secretary of State at the time, Bill Jones, ruled that the site was promoting illegal activity. Jones claimed that the site encouraged bribery. The site’s supporters filed a lawsuit arguing that their activity is protected by the First Amendment.

The hearing in the 9th circuit went well for the people who put up the web site. The panel included Clinton appointee Raymond Fisher, and two appointees of our current president, Richard Clifton and visiting U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez from Washington state. Click here to listen to the oral argument, which lasts 55 minutes, but will be fascinating to anyone who is interested in the First Amendment. It may take a few minutes for your computer to absorb the link, but once your computer screen has the “movie theater” black viewing screen ready, you can hear the oral argument by clicking on the arrow. You will need to have this case number at hand: 06-55517.