Liberal Attack on Conservative Talk Radio Shot Down in Washington State

Via Sykes Writes, a case that we have blogged on previously, in which conservative talk radio hosts in Washington State were ordered to report their vocal support of an anti-tax initiative as a “campaign contribution.”

Here in Wisconsin, liberal Bill Christofferson wanted to use the same tactic to shut up Charlie Sykes support of school choice.

Of course, the liberals who want to regulate what radio talkers say as a “campaign contribution” would never think of considering liberal editorials in the Journal-Sentinel or liberal commentary on (say) CNN as a “campaign contribution.”

Happily, the Washington Supreme Court shot the entire attempt down.

Although the decision was unanimous, two justices went further and said:

Today we are confronted with an example of abusive prosecution by several local governments. San Juan County and the cities of Seattle, Auburn, and Kent (hereinafter Municipalities) determined to file a legal action ostensibly for disclosure of radio time spent discussing a proposed initiative. This litigation was actually for the purpose of restricting or silencing political opponents and was quickly dismissed after the filing deadline for the initiative.

That’s a decisive victory, but the war is far from over. Liberals are not becoming more tolerant.