Churches challenge IRS, claim First Amendment rights

By Paul Jivoff


Pastor Luke Emrich
AP Photo by Dinesh Ramde
September 28, 2008






As election day approaches, churches across the U.S. are pushing for fewer restraints on their political speech. Pastor Luke Emrich of New Life Church in Wisconsin is one of a group of church leaders challenging the IRS tax code which stipulates that a church can lose its non-profit standing by taking sides in a political campaign.

The AP reports that pastors are moving beyond preaching about issues like abortion, gay marriage, and other traditionally religious concerns, and are recommending candidates from the pulpit. These political sermons all occurred on Pulpit Freedom Sunday as part of a plan by the Alliance Defense Fund intended to begin a legal battle for more church speech rights.

Advocates of the initiative say that the IRS code unconstitutionally interferes with pastors' First Amendment rights. Critics of the initiative warn that, if successful, it could compromise the church's traditional charitable role. Others worry that if this kind of speech is allowed from non-profit churches, it will be tantamount to using taxpayer dollars to support a political campaign.

Politicians make efforts to block opponents ads

By Max Nerenberg


AP Photo by Al Grillo
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens speaks in Anchorage, Alaska
September 19.


As political ads are on the increase this election year, lawmakers are being forced to consider the limits on free speech when it comes to these ads, according to a Wall Street Journal article.
This month lawyers for Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens threatened action against Alaska broadcast stations that aired an attack ad. The ad, which alleged Stevens had received an illegal deal, when he traded his car in for a Land Rover, was attacked by Stevens’ lawyers for being inaccurate.
Stations would be required to air the commercial if it was paid for by a rival candidate, but it was instead paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a third party.
This is part of a trend, which some lawyers and station managers say is on the rise: lawyers for political candidates are trying to keep rival ads off the air.
“I think candidates want us to become the censors,” Mike Burgess, general manager of an Albuquerque NBC affiliate, told the Journal, “I don’t think that’s our job.”
Many of the ads under attack are those from third party groups, known as 527s (the section of tax law they operate under). These ads enjoy fewer protections because they are often considered more edgy than others, and they have looser financing rules than candidates.
John Zakhem, a republican election lawyer, who has taken part in several cease-and desist actions against third party ads told the Journal, “[527s] are not accountable to voters for what they say.
Ezra Reese, another attorney who has been involved in similar cases told the Journal that efforts to block third party ads have become standard in political campaigns.

Sex Offender Allowed to Remain Anonymous Online

Posted by Alison Baitz
AP Photo by Jim Cole

A Utah law that requires sex offenders to reveal their Internet screen names and passwords to the Utah Department of Corrections has been ruled unconstitutional to one man by U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The decision applies only to Doe.

The man is being referred to as John Doe in court documents. It has been decided that he "retains his First Amendment right to anonymous online speech." The decision is the first of its kind to address the online anonymity rights of sex offenders. The constitutionality of the law remains intact for offenders still on parole.

The Utah state law in question required almost 7,000 registered sex offenders to relinquish some of their Internet information, which included social networking websites' passwords and screen names.

Doe had been "found guilty of carnal knowledge and sodomy of a minor," according to the Salt Lake Tribune, and served 13 months in the corrections system. After serving his time, Doe was not placed on parole or supervised release. He sued in June, saying that he already served time and the law in question violated his free speech rights.

Campbell stated that her decision does not prevent other types of measures to catch criminals online.

Minnesota sued by news groups banned within 100 ft of polls

Post by Gina Colonette AP Photo/Minnesota Polls

News organizations are suing the state of Minnesota for not allowing them within 100 feet of polling places.

State Legislature was passed in Minnesota this past April stating reporters could not be within 100 feet of polls. News organizations are saying this violates their First Amendment rights to gather information. Reporters gather information about the political process and exit polls to find out why people voted and to track social trends. By making reporter stay 100ft away from the polls the accuracy of their data will be called into question.

The lawsuit was filed in Federal court in Minneapolis. The lawsuit asks that this law be considered unconstitutional because it blocks news organizations from exit polling activities.

With people’s high interest in the election this year the work done by these news organizations will be in high demand.

Susan Buckley, an attorney for the news organizations involved in the lawsuit states, “This reporting will be valuable not only for our present understanding of this historic election; it will also inform the analysis of historians, social scientists, and others who will study the results for years to come."

According to Buckley, this is the 12th lawsuit in 10 states regarding the election. The First Amendment has been found to be in violation in all 10 states.

Airborne Pays $30 Million To Settle FTC Charge of False Advertisements

Post by Mahala Gaylord
photo by NAM Y HUH/AP ©2005


The Federal Trade Commission charged the makers of Airborne, a company which makes cold-prevention medicine, with the use of false and unsubstantiated claims about their product in advertisements and on their label. A class action lawsuit is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

"The FTC charged that the makers of Airborne, former teacher Victoria Knight-McDowell and her husband, made express or implied unsubstantiated claims that the product could reduce the risk of or prevent colds, protect against or help fight germs, reduce the severity or duration of a cold, and protect against colds, sickness and infection in crowded places." as stated in an article on adlawbyrequest.com.

“There is no credible evidence that Airborne products, taken as directed, will reduce the severity or duration of colds, or provide any tangible benefit for people who are exposed to germs in crowded places,” said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection in a release.

Airborne agreed to pay $26.5 million in refunds and an additional $6.5 million to redress customer claims according to adlawbyrequest.com.

Although Airborne is paying a settlement, the company denies any wrongdoing or illegal activity. Airborne made a statement reassuring its customers that Airborne does indeed work.

“Consumers can feel confident that the advertising and labeling going into the marketplace accurately reflects what Airborne products do,” said Airborne CEO Elise Donahue, according to adlawbyrequest.com.

Singer Sues After His Song Appears In Anti-Obama Ad

Post by Amy Bonanno
AP Photo/Louis Lanzano


Most musicians are happy if people remember their songs after thirty years. But for Jackson Browne, a Democratic activist, hearing his 1977 hit “Running on Empty” in a recent John McCain political ad, was reason to go to court.

According to ADLAWbyRequest, Browne is suing John McCain, the Republican National Committee, and the Ohio Republican Party for using his song in an ad that attacks the Junior Illinois Senator’s energy policy. The ad specifically pokes fun at Obama’s suggestion of conserving gasoline by keeping car tires at proper pressure.

Browne's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, states “[T]he [c]ommercial falsely suggests that [he] sponsors, endorses and is associated with McCain and the Republican Party, when nothing could be further from the truth.”

The singer is seeking $75,000 in damages as well as an injunction to stop the commercial. He says the ad “infringed on his copyright, and violated his right of publicity under California common law.”

San Francisco Butts In; Tobacco Giant Sues

By Marisha Kelly

AP Photo/Jens Meyer


Philip Morris USA sued the City of San Francisco on Sept. 24 for enacting a law that would prohibit tobacco products from being sold in convenience drug stores, according to Firstamendmentcenter.org.

Asserting that its First Amendment rights to sell a legal product were being violated, the nation’s leading cigarette retailer went to Federal Court.

“Although called a ban on sales, the purpose and effect of the ordinance is to suppress communications directed to adult smokers, in violation of our constitutional rights,” said Joe Murillo, Altria Client Services vice president and associate general counsel, in a company announcement on the PM USA Web site. “Likewise, the ban unfairly deprives adult consumers of the opportunity to buy tobacco products from legitimate licensed retail businesses.”

The Supreme Court ruled in Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly (2001) that the selling and use of tobacco products by adults is a legal act, even though the state holds substantial interest in preventing kids and teens from tobacco use.

PM USA requested a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the law from going into effect Oct. 1, according to an ABC Bay City News local report. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland rejected the TRO late on Sept. 26.

Walgreens requested an emergency injunction against the ban, which passed in July, in Superior Court. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Walgreens said the ban was discriminatory, affecting individual pharmacies but not "grocery stores or big-box stores that have pharmacies within them and also sell cigarettes."