State ex rel. Public Disclosure Com'n v. 119 Vote No! Committee
Citation | 135 Wn.2d 618,957 P.2d 691 |
Decision Date | 11 June 1998 |
Docket Number | No. 64332-6,64332-6 |
Court | United States State Supreme Court of Washington |
Parties | Page 618 135 Wn.2d 618 957 P.2d 691 STATE of Washington ex rel. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE COMMISSION, Appellant, v. 119 VOTE NO! COMMITTEE, Eileen Brown, Executive Director, Thomas Finch, Treasurer, Respondents. American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, a Washington nonprofit corporation, on behalf of itself and its members, Appellants, Irene Heninger, Jocelyn Marchisio, Jim Whiteside, Don Brazier, and Gary Machara, Commissioners, Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, in their official capacity; and Christine O. Gregoire, Attorney General of the State of Washington, in her official capacity, Respondents. Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc |
The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) alleges the 119 Vote No! Committee violated RCW 42.17.530(1)(a) by publishing false political advertising. We must decide two issues: does RCW 42.17.530(1)(a) violate the First Amendment on its face; and, if not, did the subject advertisement violate the statute. As we conclude, RCW 42.17.530(1)(a) indeed facially violates the First Amendment--the second question falls by the way.
Notwithstanding dismissal of the principal action against
the Committee, the ACLU pursued its claim for a declaratory judgment of invalidity. 5 The ACLU and the State cross-moved for summary judgment each seeking a declaration as to the statute's constitutionality under the First Amendment. On stipulated facts concerning the enforcement of RCW 42.17.530(1)(a) the court granted the State's motion, concluding the statute facially passed First Amendment muster. Both parties appealed. We granted direct review.
Hoffer v. State, 110 Wash.2d 415, 420, 755 P.2d 781 (1988). Likewise, the facial constitutionality of a statute is a question of law which requires de novo review. Timberline Air Serv. Inc. v. Bell Helicopter-Textron, Inc., 125 Wash.2d 305, 311, 884 P.2d 920 (1994).
RCW 42.17.530(1)(a) provides: "It is a violation of this chapter for a person to sponsor with actual malice ... [p]olitical advertising that contains a false statement of material fact...." The Committee and the ACLU argue the statute is a facially unconstitutional abridgment of free speech. The State asserts its interest in an informed electorate justifies this burden upon political debate.
The constitutional guarantee of free speech has its "fullest and most urgent application" in political campaigns.
Brown v. Hartlage, 456 U.S. 45, 53, 102 S.Ct. 1523, 71 L.Ed.2d 732 (1982) (quoting Monitor Patriot Co. v. Roy, 401 U.S. 265, 271-72, 91 S.Ct. 621, 28 L.Ed.2d 35 (1971)). Therefore, the State bears a "well-nigh insurmountable" burden to justify RCW 42.17.530's restriction on political speech. Meyer v. Grant, 486 U.S. 414, 425, 108 S.Ct. 1886, 100 L.Ed.2d 425 (1988). This burden requires the court to apply "exacting scrutiny" to RCW 42.17.530(1)(a). Meyer, 486 U.S. at 420, 108 S.Ct. 1886. See also Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 39, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976). Exacting scrutiny will invalidate the statute unless the State demonstrates a compelling interest that is both narrowly tailored and necessary. McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n, 514 U.S. 334, 347, 115 S.Ct. 1511, 1519, 131 L.Ed.2d 426 (1995); Burson v. Freeman, 504 U.S. 191, 198, 112 S.Ct. 1846, [957 P.2d 695] 119 L.Ed.2d 5 (1992). Such burdens are rarely met. Burson, 504 U.S. at 199-200, 112 S.Ct. 1846. Ino Ino, Inc. v. City of Bellevue, 132 Wash.2d 103, 114, 937 P.2d 154 (1997) ("The State bears the burden of justifying a restriction on speech.")
infringes on speech protected by the First Amendment
Uninhibited speech " 'is the single most important element upon which this nation has thrived.' " Nelson v. McClatchy Newspapers, Inc., 131 Wash.2d 523, 536, 936 P.2d 1123 (quoting Guzick v. Drebus, 305 F.Supp. 472, 481 (N.D.Ohio 1969), aff'd, 431 F.2d 594 (6th Cir.1970), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 948, 91 S.Ct. 941, 28 L.Ed.2d 231 (1971)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 175, 139 L.Ed.2d 117 (1997). Free speech is revered as the "Constitution's majestic guarantee," central to the preservation of all other rights. Id. at 536, 936 P.2d 1123. Advocacy of one's political views through leafleting lies at the very core of our First Amendment freedoms. McIntyre, 514 U.S. at 346-47, 115 S.Ct. 1511; Meyer, 486 U.S. at 421-22, 108 S.Ct. 1886.
The State asserts it may prohibit false statements of fact contained in political advertisements. This claim presupposes Rather, the First Amendment operates to insure the public decides what is true and false with respect to governance. Meyer, 486 U.S. at 419-20, 108 S.Ct. 1886; Riley v. National Fed. of the Blind of North Carolina, Inc., 487 U.S. 781, 791, 108 S.Ct. 2667, 101 L.Ed.2d 669 (1988). In Meyer, the Supreme Court explained:
the State possesses an independent right to determine truth and falsity in political debate. However, the courts have "consistently refused to recognize an exception for any test of truth--whether administered by judges, juries, or administrative officials--and especially one that puts the burden of proving truth on the speaker." New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 271, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686, 95 A.L.R.2d 1412 (1964).
" [Grant v. Meyer, 828 F.2d 1446, 1455 (10th Cir.1987) ].
Meyer, 486 U.S. at 419-20, 108 S.Ct. 1886 (emphasis added).
Particularly in the religious and political realms, "the tenets of one man ... seem the rankest error to his neighbor." Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296, 310, 60 S.Ct. 900, 84 L.Ed. 1213, 128 A.L.R. 1352 (1940). Therefore, the Supreme Court has recognized that to sustain our constitutional commitment to uninhibited political discourse, the State may not prevent others from "resort[ing] to exaggeration, to vilification of men who have been, or are, prominent in church and state, and even to false statement. " Id. (emphasis added). At times such speech seems unpalatable, but the value of free debate overcomes the danger of misuse. McIntyre, 514 U.S. at 357, 115 S.Ct. 1511. For even false statements make valuable contributions to debate by bringing about "the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error." New York Times, 376 U.S. at 279 n. 19, 84 S.Ct. 710 (quoting John S. Mill, On Liberty 15 (Oxford, Blackwell 1947)).
Specifically, the First Amendment prohibits the State from silencing speech it disapproves, particularly silencing criticism of government itself. Threats of coerced silence chill uninhibited political debate and undermine the very purpose of the First Amendment. See Riley, 487 U.S. at 791, 108 S.Ct. 2667; Brown, 456 U.S. at 61, 102 S.Ct. 1523; Meyer, 486 U.S. at 419-20, 108 S.Ct. 1886.
[The Founders of the nation] believed that freedom to think as you will and speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth.... Believing in the power of reason as applied through the public discussion, they eschewed silence coerced by law--the argument of force in its worst form.
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