Longtime readers know that, for the most part, I have confined my commentary to activities within the City of Whitewater, population 14,296. Not far from the city, however, sits the Town of Whitewater, a separate municipality, with a population of less than 2,000, situated near Whitewater Lake.
There’s a story from the Town of Whitewater that calls out for notice — the sensible decision of a Federal judge to enjoin action against a Town of Whitewater resident. The resident wanted to mail out postcards against a town referendum that would permit liquor sales (the Town of Whitewater is presently dry). Prior use of the campaign finance law against speech from an ordinary citizen dissuaded resident John Swaffer from mailing his postcards out of concern that the campaign finance law would be used against him, too.
Additional details of the story are available at the WTMJ website. (See, “A Victory for Free Speech“, Charlie Sykes, March 21, WTMJ AM 620 website.)
Ordinary citizens have reason to be concerned when politicians threaten use of the campaign finance law to prevent free expression against their political initiatives. Although I am not opposed to alcohol sales to adults, I am strongly opposed to efforts to use campaign finance laws to limit political speech in the way described here.
Our finance laws should not become a tool by which incumbents, or or any political faction, prevent opposition to their plans. This has happened before, in the City of Whitewater, too. If I recall correctly, Whitewater Unified School District board member Henri Kinson wanted to distribute flyers against a spending referendum, and found the law used against him. I was not writing back then, but I remember thinking how use of the law against his distribution of flyers was simultaneously petty and outrageous.
It should never happen anywhere that elected officials use campaign finance laws as a cudgel against expression. It’s not merely bad policy, and over-extension of the law — it’s an unjustified violation of political speech that benefits entrenched interests at the expense of ordinary citizens.