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Issue Advocacy: A Cornerstone of Democracy
January 1, 2018  •  By IFS Staff  •    •  

The First Amendment protects speech from burdensome government regulation. Until the 1970s, federal law largely did not regulate either campaign speech or issue speech by advocacy groups. That changed with the adoption of the Federal Election Campaign Act. The Act attempted to regulate any speech “relative to a clearly identified candidate.” This law, and the subsequent Supreme Court decision Buckley…

Amicus Brief: Citizens Union of the City of New York et al. v. Attorney General of the State of New York
July 2, 2018   •  By IFS Staff   •  , , , ,

NAACP v. Alabama: When “Transparency” Becomes Censorship
June 28, 2018   •  By Luke Wachob   •  , , , ,

The freedom to associate with others and speak as a group is foundational to democracy. Individuals rarely can change their society, government, or laws ...

Speech laws stand in the way of student gun advocacy
June 27, 2018   •  By Eric Wang   •  , , ,

March for Our Lives, the student group that held nationwide rallies in the spring to decry school shootings, recently began a voter registration campaign ...

Giving Meaning to Narrow Tailoring and Burdens of Proof: IJ Scores a Win for Free Speech in Colorado
June 13, 2018   •  By Brad Smith   •  ,

One of the problems with campaign finance laws is that, no matter how well-intentioned, in practice, the laws have less to do with “cleaning ...

Dark Money: The Courts Awaken
May 21, 2018   •  By Luke Wachob   •  ,

“This is like the Death Star. In Star Wars, they didn’t go fight the evil empire on every single planet. They went after the ...

 Maryland lawmakers voted to criminalize online speech in the name of security
May 18, 2018   •  By Eric Wang   •  , ,

More than a thousand students gathered at the Maryland state capitol in March as part of the national “March for Our Lives” demonstrations against ...

Did a D.C. Federal Court Fail the “Major Purpose Test”?
May 14, 2018   •  By Mike Columbo   •  , , ,

A recent opinion by Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the federal District Court in Washington, D.C. poses new risks for advocacy groups and their ...

Analysis of “Online Electioneering Transparency and Accountability Act” (Maryland H.B. 981)
April 5, 2018   •  By Eric Wang   •  , , , ,

The Institute for Free Speech provides the following analysis of H.B. 981, which currently awaits a concurrence vote in the House of Delegates. Despite ...

A Government That Can Ban Ads on Public Transportation Can Restrict Other Forms of Speech Too
March 15, 2018   •  By Joe Albanese   •  , ,

Can a subway system ban advertisements that convey a controversial political opinion? What about an ad that asks riders to “embrace humanity and inclusion”? ...

Understanding the Differences Between Political and Issue Advocacy
March 1, 2018   •  By IFS Staff   •  , , ,

This Issue Brief explains the differences between political and issue advocacy in both layman’s terms and as viewed by the courts. In particular, the ...

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