The Shot!

SUNLIGHT!

A lot of people (mainly those who benefit from the Governor’s groups) are crying foul over S. 714 claming that its unconstitutional.  Now, we aren’t lawyers, but after reading the bill for the third time, we can find only one section that could violate one’s right to free speech.

Section 6 amends Section 2-17-130(A) of the 1976 Code to read:

A lobbyist, a lobbyist’s principal, or a political awareness organization who wilfully violates the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two thousand five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. In addition, a lobbyist, or a lobbyist’s principal, or a political awareness organization convicted of or pleading guilty or nolo contendere to a misdemeanor under the provisions of this section is barred from acting as a lobbyist, a lobbyist’s principal, or a political awareness organization for a period of three years from the date of the conviction.

So what does that mean?

That means that a person found guilty of violating this new law would be bared from speaking their mind for three years.  That’s not good and we do believe it’s unconstitutional.  But you don’t hear S. 714 opponents stating that because they know that the Senate can just amend that language to give guilty parties a hefty fine, which would not be unconstitutional. S. 714 opponents would rather just claim unconstitutionality and continue lining their pockets.

Let’s amend this bill and bring sunlight to a system that desperately needs it.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 10:36 pm and is filed under The Chaser. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.