In the News
Courthouse News: ‘Doorknockers’ challenge to California gig-worker law goes before Ninth Circuit
By Edvard Pettersson
An Oxnard, California, political action committee and a Florida provider of canvassing services went before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to argue that a state law that qualifies “doorknockers” and signature gatherers as employees rather than independent contractors violates their free speech rights.
Mobilize the Message and Starr Coalition for Moving Oxnard Forward claim California law discriminates against canvassers based on the content of their speech because salespeople going door to door and newspaper carriers are exempt from the law’s criteria and can qualify as independent contractors. But canvassers soliciting signatures for a ballot measure or urging people to vote for a candidate are considered employees under the law.
U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, a Donald Trump appointee, expressed some sympathy with Mobilize the Message at the hearing Monday in San Francisco. Whereas the newspaper industry and the direct sales lobby may have been successful in getting exemptions from the California Legislature for their workers, it was unlikely that advocates of direct democracy would have been able to get such an exemption because, according to the judge, they are the biggest enemy of the Legislature.
[Ed. note: Learn more about our case, Mobilize the Message, LLC v. Bonta, here.]
ICYMI
IFS Appeals Washington Donor Privacy Case to Ninth Circuit
By Luke Wachob
On Monday, a federal district court in Seattle dismissed the Institute for Free Speech’s lawsuit seeking assurance that we can provide pro bono legal representation to a political activist without being forced to publicly expose our supporters. Within hours, we appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“We are disappointed in the court’s ruling and look forward to the appeal,” said Institute for Free Speech President David Keating. “Washingtonians have a right to accept free legal representation, and nonprofits have a right to provide that representation without exposing their confidential supporters. We are unable to help citizens in Washington until the law is fixed.”
The case, Institute for Free Speech v. Jarrett, seeks to protect the right of nonprofit organizations to offer pro bono legal services to individuals caught up in campaign finance enforcement proceedings in Washington state.
The Courts
Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Appeals Court Rules Ohio Cops Didn’t Have Cause To Arrest Man Wearing ‘Fuck the Police’ Shirt
By C.J. Ciaramella
Sheriff’s deputies in Ohio didn’t have probable cause to arrest a man for hurling vulgarities at them and wearing a t-shirt that said “fuck the police,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled Tuesday.
The Sixth Circuit found Michael Wood had a First Amendment right to cuss out a gaggle of deputies who removed him from a county fair in 2016 after someone called 911 to complain about his shirt. The deputies also are not entitled to qualified immunity from Wood’s suit, the Sixth Circuit ruled, because Wood’s right to be free from arrest was clearly established by a long line of court opinions protecting obscene language directed at authorities.
Free Expression
Jonathan Turley: GWU President Triggers Free Speech Fight After Declaring Posters Criticizing the Chinese Government Offensive
Mark Wrighton, the new president of George Washington University, triggered a national free speech controversy when he declared that he was “personally offended” by posters criticizing the Chinese government’s hosting of the Olympics. The posters attacked China for its human rights record, including allegations of genocide against the Uyghur Muslim minority. Wrighton not only declared his outrage at the political posters but suggested that an investigation would be launched. He later back-tracked and issued a statement Monday that the posters are political speech and would not be investigated.
