Gessler to appeal judge's decision on issue committees

Ambiguity in state law leaves state vulnerable to lawsuits

Denver, November 17, 2011 – Today, Judge A. Bruce Jones set aside the Secretary of State’s rule, which corrects what a federal appeals court judge said was unconstitutional in Sampson v. Buescher.

In that case, a group of homeowners in Parker joined forces to defeat a ballot annexation issue, but were later sued by their political opponents. Ultimately, a federal court ruled that spending $2,300 for a ballot issue was "well below the line" of legitimate state regulation and that "the governmental interest in imposing those regulations is minimal, if not nonexistent."

Nonetheless, in Judge Jones’ decision, he says the $200 limit must stand, "…except in similar contexts to Sampson."

"Under Judge Jones' ruling, we have one threshold for $200 and another threshold for 'some other amount,'" Gessler said. "We want to encourage participation in our political process but the ruling today only further confuses an already complex process."

In order to bring Colorado law into compliance with the First Amendment, Secretary of State Scott Gessler conducted a public rulemaking process and ultimately set the issue committee limit at $5,000.

"With today's decision, we now have a conflict with the federal appeals court ruling and Coloradans are left in the dark," Gessler said. "Hopefully, the Colorado Court of Appeals will sort out the conflict to avoid another expensive lawsuit."

After four years of litigation, the Sampson case cost the state over $600,000 in legal fees.