FRANKFORT, KY – Attorney General Russell Coleman on Thursday defended Kentuckians’ First Amendment rights to participate in the political process in a brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
In the filing, the Attorney General asked the court to immediately block the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance’s (KREF) attempt to stop Kentuckians from expressing political opinions through local county parties.
Earlier this year, KREF released an opinion that restricts the ability of local political parties to spend resources in support of or opposition to the proposed constitutional amendments on Kentuckians’ ballots this November. After a federal judge refused the county parties’ request to immediately block the KREF rule, the parties appealed to the Sixth Circuit. Attorney General Coleman filed a brief in support of the local parties’ right to express political opinions.
Kentucky’s Solicitor General Matthew Kuhn, Principal Deputy Solicitor General Jack Heyburn and Assistant Solicitor General Elizabeth Hedges filed the brief on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office. They argued that the First Amendment prohibits KREF from picking and choosing which political speech is permissible. The brief explains that “[u]nder the First Amendment, the government, on pain of fines or criminal prosecution, cannot tell political parties how to speak about the issues of the day.”
“The government doesn’t get to choose how political parties communicate with voters. Doing so, especially this close to an election, is an infringement on the First Amendment,” said Attorney General Coleman. “Our Office will continue to stand strong for Kentuckians’ ability to make their voices heard.”
Read the Attorney General’s brief.
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