Prior Restraint in Black River Falls

This is astonishing.

On Friday, in Jackson County, a circuit court judge named Thomas Lister issued an ex parte temporary restraining order against an ad run by a group called the Coalition For America’s Families. The court found that the plaintiff, Radcliffe For Assembly, had demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success on its claim that the ad violated Wis. Stat. § 12.05 in that it “may knowingly make or publish, or cause to be made or published, a false representation pertaining to a candidate or referendum which is intended or tends to affect voting at an election. ”

The ad apparently stated that Mark Radcliffe, a Democratic candidate for the 92nd Assembly District, supports a health care plan that would double Wisconsin’s taxes, impose 15 billion dollars in new taxes, and represent a $ 510/month increase in taxes for every Wisconsin worker. (While news reports have said that the ad also claimed that the plan would provide benefits to out-of-state residents and illegal aliens, neither the complaint nor the restraining order mention any such statements.)

The order is extraordinary for a number of reasons.

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What Is Not an Election Issue

Earlier this week, I gave an interview to a state reporter on the role of religion in this year’s election. When she asked what role it has played, I had to say “not much.” Mobilizing religious voters has generally required salient social issues. While its possible to imagine a religious left focused on economic issues (and some folks are attempting to build one), religious impact in our recent elections has been associated with social conservatives.

My guess is that, at the end of the day, McCain will do well among religious voters, but social issues have been largely absent from this election. The economy has crowded out most everything else.

Another thing that has been crowded out is the Supreme Court and federal courts. While nominees to the Court have never been a leading issue — lurking in the background and most important to the politically engaged, it’s my impression that we have heard more about it in the past.

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Panel Discussion on the Fairness Doctrine, But Will It Matter?

I had the pleasure of moderating a panel discussion on the potential for and desireability of a return of the Fairness Doctrine sponsored by the Marquette University Law School student chapter of the Federalist Society. The panelists were Chicago radio talk show host Guy Benson and local talk show host Charlie Sykes in “opposition” and Marquette Communications Professor Eric Ugland and local talker Joel McNally, who were in “favor” or, at least, not resolutely opposed.

The Fairness Doctrine was a set of FCC policies that required broadcast stations to address matters of public interest (an aspect that was not enforced) and that required some measure of even-handedness in addressing such issues. Those of us who are a little older will recall news broadcasts in which, usually at the tail end, someone was presented to give “equal time” in opposition to an earlier editorial view expressed by the station. This was, as middle-aged fans of Saturday Night Live will recall, the premise for Gilda Radner’s hard-of-hearing Emily Latilla, who was brought on to offer “responsible opposing view points.” (“What’s all this fuss I hear about an eagle rights amendment?”)

The Supreme Court upheld the doctrine over a constitutional challenge in the late ’60s, but it was abandoned during the latter years of the Reagan administration.

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