A few days ago I noted on our blog that “…Wisconsin is becoming an increasingly dangerous place to make statements of a political nature.” This past weekend shows just how far opponents of the First Amendment will go to silence their critics.
A judge in Wisconsin has ordered an ad criticizing a candidate off the air because it contains “false statements.”
Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Lister on Sunday upheld an order he made a day earlier that says a Coalition for America’s Families must stop running ads that make false representations about Mark Radcliffe, a Democratic candidate for the 92nd Assembly District.
The coalition said Sunday it would immediately appeal the judge’s ruling.
The ad says Radcliffe supports a health care plan that would double Wisconsin’s taxes to give benefits to out of state residents and illegal aliens. It also says the $15 billion plan would make Wisconsin the highest taxed state in the country.
Radcliffe – who is up against Republican Dan Hellman, of Onalaska, for an open seat – filed the restraining order request Friday.
Alarmingly enough, this isn’t just a lone candidate filing a complaint to silence his opponents – the state’s Democratic campaign committee is backing this outrageous assault on the First Amendment!
Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee Director Jim Smith said the judge’s ruling “puts a nail into the coffin of dirty politics, lies and misrepresentations.”
The ad was scheduled to resume Monday after a weekend break but was temporarily suspended to avoid a contempt of court charge, said Johnson, the coalition’s spokesman. He said an appeal will be filed with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals by the time court opens Monday morning.
This is the most chilling thing I can imagine, a state (country?) where the government has the power to determine that someone’s political statement is “false,” and prevent them from speaking (and for the record, the “false” statements are reasonably supported by memos from the state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau).
It used to be that “reform” meant trying to combat “corruption,” or prevent “big money” from gaining “undue influence” over the legislative process. Now, it would appear to mean using the government to forcibly silence critics of those in power or seeking power. This is an abomination.
