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Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Ind. Decisions - "Robo-calls suit could find new life"

The Dec. 29th Supreme Court decision in State v. Free-Eats (ILB entry here) is the subject of an editorial item today in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled last week that the state’s ban on automated robo-calls is constitutional – but that may not be the last word.

Don’t be surprised if the ruling is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds. Consider the opinion of Justice Frank Sullivan, the court’s lone dissenter – and perhaps its best legal mind.

Sullivan explained in great detail how political speech is deserving of greater protection, and that the robo-calls are a financially efficient way to reach voters. The courts most often strike down laws on free-speech grounds when they are too broad; the more narrow the law, the less likely it is to limit protected free speech. “The Indiana Autodialer Law is not narrowly tailored because it burdens substantially more speech than is necessary to serve the State’s interest in protecting residential privacy,” Sullivan wrote.

Justice Sullivan was also mentioned in this week's issue of Indiana Legislative Insight ($$$):
Despite the Republican-leaning composition of the Judicial Nominating Commission, don't be surprised to see Justice Sullivan make another serious bid for the post. He's well-respected among his colleagues and the legal community for his court administration initiatives, is viewed as a nuts-and-bolts guy who can effectively run an operation such as this, and has not been perceived as a partisan in the past decade or so. He's also a law school classmate of Attorney General Greg Zoeller (R) and former AG Steve Carter (R), both of whom have always spoken only highly of him, Court of Appeals Judge Elaine Brown, and even some who have served on the trial bench.
ILB: BTW, ILI publisher Ed Feigenbaum also was in that class.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 3, 2012 08:56 AM
Posted to Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions