Posted on: Monday, December 16, 2002

Campaign ad injunction to be permanent

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Hawai'i Right to Life and the Federal Election Commission have agreed to make permanent an injunction that allowed the anti-abortion group to run political advertising for special elections to replace the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink.

A U.S. District judge for the District of Columbia granted a temporary injunction in November after deciding that the nonprofit Hawai'i group is exempt from advertising restrictions contained in the federal campaign finance law.

The judge has received the agreement and lawyers on both sides expect him to make the injunction permanent.

The district court did not rule on claims by Hawai'i Right to Life that the campaign finance law is unconstitutional, a question a three-judge federal panel is examining in a separate legal challenge that will likely reach the Supreme Court.

After obtaining the temporary injunction, Hawai'i Right to Life sponsored political ads before the Nov. 30 special election to fill the remainder of Mink's term. Democrat Ed Case won that election.

Another special election will be held Jan. 4 to replace Mink in the next Congress because she won re-election posthumously in November.

The law prohibits "soft money" contributions to national political parties, the unlimited donations from corporations, labor unions and individuals used for party building and get-out-the-vote drives. The law also restricts corporations, labor unions and some interest groups from buying political ads that mention candidates 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election.

"It's a great day for free speech," said John Long, executive director of Hawai'i Right to Life, which plans to promote an anti-abortion message before the next special election. "But it's amazing when something like this would have to go to court."

An FEC spokesman declined comment but confirmed that an agreement had been reached with Hawai'i Right to Life and was filed with the court.

James Bopp Jr., general counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech, a conservative legal group that has fought the campaign finance law, represented Hawai'i Right to Life in court and praised the agreement.

"It clearly demonstrates that there are First Amendment protections that the law violates," Bopp said.