Petition overview
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High court rejects Nader’s appeal of ballot rules
Former candidate claimed Hawaii election requirements made it harder for independents to make it on ballot than party candidates.
High court rejects Nader’s appeal of ballot rules
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has turned away Ralph Nader's appeal of a Hawaiian court's decision keeping him off the state's presidential ballot in 2004.
The high court refused yesterday to hear Nader's appeal.
Elections officials kept Nader off Hawaii's 2004 ballot because supporters had failed to submit the required number of signatures. He challenged that decision, [...]
Court delves into history in rare petition case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court yesterday was treated to an hourlong tour of the history of the rarely invoked petition clause of the First Amendment. By the end of the hour, however, it did not appear the Court was ready to breathe new life into the hoary right of the people to “petition the government [...]
Calif. judge to school district: Count signatures on charter petition
COMPTON, Calif. — A Superior Court judge has ruled that the Compton Unified School District violated parents' First Amendment rights by imposing an onerous signature-verification process on a disputed parent petition for a charter school.
On March 21, Judge Anthony J. Mohr ordered administrators to count the signatures by April 1 over the objections of the [...]
Alaska high court: Voters may see write-in list
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court late yesterday blocked a lower court's order and ruled that voters at polling places may see a list of write-in candidates.
The ruling was good news for the campaign of incumbent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. She was defeated in the Republican primary by tea party favorite Joe Miller and [...]
Litigious prisoner barred from filing new legal claims
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge is calling a halt to new legal actions by a prison inmate who has filed more than 5,000 lawsuits and targeted the famous, the infamous and even the long-dead.
Under an order issued Oct. 18 by U.S. District Judge Karl F. Forester, the Bureau of Prisons can review and reject [...]
Could petition shield outspoken public employees?
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will again grapple with the contentious issue of First Amendment rights for government employees, this time in the context of the rarely invoked petition clause.
The Court on yesterday granted review in Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri, which asks whether the right to petition the government shields a public employee from [...]
9th Circuit upholds Wash. campaign-disclosure laws
OLYMPIA, Wash. — A federal appeals court upheld Washington state’s campaign-disclosure laws yesterday, saying the requirements don’t violate the First Amendment rights of a group that didn’t want to reveal its donors in a 2008 opposition campaign to an assisted-suicide ballot measure.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower [...]
Federal judge: Military can’t enforce ‘don’t ask’ policy
SAN DIEGO — A federal judge ordered the military yesterday to immediately stop enforcing its ban on openly gay troops, bringing the 17-year “don't ask, don't tell” policy closer than it has ever been to being abolished.
Justice Department attorneys have 60 days to appeal the injunction but did not say what their next step would [...]
9th Circuit temporarily reinstates Wash. campaign-spending law
Editor’s note: On Oct. 12, the Supreme Court refused to lift the stay imposed by the 9th Circuit, leaving in place Washington state’s limits on campaign contributions in the final weeks of ballot-measure campaigns.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Federal appeals judges have temporarily reinstated a state law that limits campaign contributions in the final weeks of ballot-measure [...]
W.Va. high court orders release of petition signatures
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Jefferson County’s clerk must release signatures sought by a newspaper from an Eastern Panhandle ballot petition, a unanimous state Supreme Court ruled last week.
The justices on Sept. 23 concluded that a referendum petition is a public record when filed with a public body. They also held that West Virginia’s Freedom of Information [...]
Tenn. ballot rules too tough on 3rd parties, federal court says
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge has found Tennessee’s requirements are too burdensome for third parties to get on the ballot and they violate the First Amendment.
Third parties seeking to run statewide candidates must currently submit a petition signed by 2.5% of the voters in the previous governor’s election, or about 45,500 signatures. The petition [...]
‘Sham’ Green Party candidates to stay on Ariz. ballot
PHOENIX — A judge has allowed contested Green Party candidates in Arizona to remain on the November ballot, denying a request that they be kicked off because Republicans allegedly recruited them to siphon votes from Democrats.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Dean Fink found on Sept. 14 that former Republican lawmaker Steve May recruited several of [...]
Federal judge tosses Wash. limit on late campaign spending
OLYMPIA, Wash. — State officials are mulling their next steps after a federal judge overturned a state law limiting campaign contributions in the final weeks of ballot-measure campaigns.
If the ruling stands, money could flow even more freely to this year's crop of voter initiatives. Six such measures are on the ballot — the second-most in [...]
THE EXPERTS
Note: We cannot provide legal advice.
Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer/First Amendment Center. Previously, Paulson served as editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today and USATODAY.com.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.
John Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.
Dr. Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum. He writes and speaks extensively on religious liberty and religion in American public life.
David L. Hudson Jr. is a scholar at the First Amendment Center. Hudson writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications devoted to First Amendment issues.
Tiffany Villager is director/First Amendment studies at the First Amendment Center, which she joined in 1993. She also served as the center’s research manager and research coordinator, and developed the center’s library.
Featured Post • Petition Commentary | Tiffany Villager
Remembering an oft-forgotten freedom
Although it’s the freedom few people can name, petition has deep historical roots.