Judge: Ohio illegally limits lobbying

Crime & Courts Cincinnati.Com Crime & Courts

Last Updated: 12:51 pm | Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A federal judge Tuesday declared that Ohio’s law limiting lobbying activities violates the First Amendment rights of a former state legislator from Cincinnati.


The decision clears the way for former Ohio Rep. Tom Brinkman to become an unpaid lobbyist for a local anti-tax group and raises questions about whether the state law can withstand a broader constitutional challenge.


Ohio’s law, known as a “revolving door” statute, bars former state legislators from lobbying activities for at least one year after they leave office. The purpose of the law is to prevent vote buying and other unethical behavior by limiting the ability of legislators to profit from relationships with private groups and lobbyists.


But U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott ruled that the law appears to be too broad and infringes on Brinkman’s First Amendment right to speak out and lobby on behalf of causes or organizations. She granted a preliminary injunction that blocks enforcement of the law as applied to Brinkman and allows him to do free work for private groups, including the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), an anti-tax group he founded 10 years ago.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20090804/NEWS0107/307300069/

Campaign contributions are bribes, elections should be run 100% on public funds. Money is not speech.

I was surprised she bought that "whine." x(

Corruption happens, and Judges are often at the center of it.