Young Americans for Liberty Sues University of Georgia Over Limits on First Amendment Activity, Including Petitioning, on Campus

Posted on by May 2, 2014
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On May 1, Young Americans for Liberty sued various officials of the University of Georgia at Athens, over the campus restrictions on First Amendment activity on campus. University rules say free speech activity, including petitioning, must be confined to two tiny areas on campus that include only one-tenth of 1% of the square area of the campus.

Other areas of the campus may be used, but only if students request a permit at least 48 hours in advance. Even in the two small “free expression areas”, permission must be obtained. The case is Young Americans for Liberty at the University of Georgia v Morehead, U.S. District Court, middle district, 3:14cv-39. The University is public, not private. Here is the Complaint. Page 12 says the group would like to circulate petitions, among other activities.

Democratic Party Choice for U.S. House in Florida’s 13th District is a Registered Independent

Posted on by May 2, 2014
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The Democratic Party National Congressional Campaign Committee is backing Ed Jany for Florida’s U.S. House district 13 this year, even though he is a registered independent. See this story.

Jany would like to be a Democrat, but Florida law does not permit anyone to run in a primary if he or she has been a registered member of another party during the proceeding year. Jany had been a registered Republican for part of that period.

The Democratic Party statements criticize the Florida law, which was passed in 2011. But the Democratic Party does not reveal that it had a chance to overturn that law, as applied to Democratic candidates, and it refused to help. Nancy Argenziano had run for the legislature in 2012. Like Jany, she wanted to run as a Democrat, but the same law interfered with her as well. She filed a lawsuit against the restriction, but lost. Her attorney asked the Democratic Party of Florida to enter the lawsuit as a co-plaintiff, but the party refused. If the party had entered the lawsuit, Argenziano would probably have won. The U.S. Supreme Court said in Tashjian v Republican Party of Connecticut in 1986 that the First Amendment permits a political party to nominate a non-member, if it wishes. A federal court in New Mexico and a state court in Colorado have both struck down laws similar to the Florida law, in cases in which a political party itself brought the lawsuit. Thanks to Austin Cassidy for the link.

Eleventh Circuit Denies Georgia’s Request for Delay of Trial in Ballot Access Case

Posted on by May 2, 2014
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On April 25, the Eleventh Circuit denied Georgia’s request that the trial in Green Party of Georgia v State be put on hold. On April 4, the state had asked the Eleventh Circuit to suspend the case so the state would have time to ask for U.S. Supreme Court review, but that request has now been denied.

Georgia has now lost three times in the Eleventh Circuit. First, the Eleventh Circuit remanded the case for a trial; that happened on January 26. Then the state asked for rehearing, and that was denied on March 26.

The issue in the case is whether Georgia ballot access for presidential candidates is too difficult. No one has complied with the petition for President since 2000. Georgia and Indiana are the only two states with petition procedures so difficult that they haven’t been used in any of the last three presidential elections. Georgia requires approximately 50,000 valid signatures, and each petition sheet must be notarized. Thanks to Mike Raffauf for the latest news.