West Virginians for Life, Inc. v. Smith
| Decision Date | 11 March 1996 |
| Docket Number | Civil A. No. 1:96-0068. |
| Citation | 919 F. Supp. 954 |
| Parties | WEST VIRGINIANS FOR LIFE, INC., Joseph Shoda, Treasurer of West Virginians For Life, Beth Pruett, Kenneth Pruett, Dallas Bragg, and Karen Suzanna Brooks, Plaintiffs, v. Charles R. SMITH, in his official capacity as Prosecuting Attorney for Mercer County, West Virginia, and as a representative of the class of Prosecuting Attorneys in the State of West Virginia, Ken Hechler, in his official capacity as Secretary of State for West Virginia and as an ex-officio member of the West Virginia Election Commission, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of West Virginia |
William C. Porth, Robinson & McElwee, Charleston, WV and James Bopp, Jr., John K. Abegg, Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, Terre Haute, IN, for plaintiffs.
Charles R. Smith, Princeton, WV, for Defendant Charles R. Smith.
Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., Attorney General and Amie Johnson, Assistant Attorney General, Charleston, WV, for Defendant Ken Hechler, Sec. of State.
Plaintiffs filed this civil action on January 30, 1996, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief arising under the Constitution of the United States of America. Plaintiff West Virginians for Life, Inc. ("WVFL") is a nonprofit corporation incorporated in West Virginia which alleges that it would like to engage in "issue advocacy" in West Virginia through the preparation and distribution of voter guides within sixty days of the upcoming primary election. WVFL ordinarily places its name on its voter guides. Plaintiff Joseph Shoda is a West Virginia resident and is the treasurer of WVFL. Plaintiff Dallas Bragg is a resident of West Virginia who would like to distribute voter guides on behalf of WVFL. Plaintiffs Beth and Kenneth Pruitt are West Virginia residents who would like to distribute voter guides anonymously within 60 days of the upcoming primary election. Plaintiff Karen Suzanna Brooks is a West Virginia resident who is not a member of WVFL but has received voter guides from WVFL in the past and would like to receive them in the future.
Defendants in this action are Ken Hechler, Secretary of State of West Virginia, who is the chief election official in West Virginia, and Charles Smith, who is the prosecuting attorney for Mercer County, West Virginia. Plaintiffs have sued defendant Smith as a representative of the class of prosecuting attorneys in the State of West Virginia, and have requested that the prosecuting attorneys for West Virginia be certified as a defendant class pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 23. The court finds it unnecessary to rule on the motion for class certification at this time, finding that injunctive relief directed to the named defendants will adequately protect the interests of the plaintiffs at this juncture of the case.
Plaintiffs allege that recent amendments to Chapter Three of the "Campaign Finance Laws of West Virginia," W.Va.Code § 3-1A-1 et. seq. (1995), violate the First Amendment by chilling their free speech rights. Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment holding the challenged provisions unconstitutional, and a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting defendants from enforcing the statute. The court conducted a hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction on February 27, 1996.1
Finally, § 3-8-5(f) prohibits the publication, distribution, or dissemination of a scorecard, voter guide, or other written analysis of a candidate's position within sixty days of an election unless the document includes the name of the party responsible for it. Section 3-8-7 sets forth the criminal and civil penalties which result from the failure to comply with § 3-8-5.
Furthermore, W.Va.Code § 3-8-12 provides that "no person shall publish, issue or circulate, or cause to be published, issued or circulated, any anonymous letter, circular or other publication tending to influence voting at any election" and prohibits newspapers or other periodicals from publishing any advertisement which tends to influence voting at any election unless the advertisement is clearly marked as a paid advertisement, and includes the name of the person responsible for it and the name of the candidate on whose behalf it is published. Section 3-8-12(j) sets forth criminal penalties applicable to anyone who violates any provision of § 3-8-12.
Plaintiffs contend that W.Va.Code § 3-8-5, the "60-day voter guide law", is unconstitutionally overbroad because it regulates issue advocacy, which is constitutionally protected, and no compelling state interest permits regulation. (Plf's Reply Mem. at 3-4.) Plaintiffs further assert that the ban on anonymous voter guides is unconstitutionally overbroad in its regulation of issue advocacy. Plaintiffs argue that a preliminary injunction prohibiting defendants from enforcing these unconstitutional statutes is necessary, as they will suffer irreparable harm if they are not able to distribute voter guides within sixty days of the West Virginia primary election, which will take place on May 14, 1996.
Plaintiffs allege no present injury; they contend that they will be injured in the future if the requested injunctive relief is not granted. Accordingly, the court must determine whether the threatened injuries are sufficiently imminent to be justiciable. The relevant judicial doctrines are standing and ripeness. Standing focuses on whether the interest a plaintiff has at stake is adequate to invoke the protection of judicial decision, while ripeness addresses whether an injury that has not yet occurred is sufficiently likely to happen. 13A Wright, Miller & Cooper, Federal Practice & Procedure, § 3531.12 at 50 (1984).
Pursuant to the judicial power of the United States under Article III of the Constitution, courts have the authority to determine actual controversies between parties to lawsuits; the right to declare a law unconstitutional is an incident of that power. Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 2 L.Ed. 60 (1803). Unless a lawsuit presents an actual "case or controversy" within the meaning of Article III, the court lacks power to rule upon it. For an actual controversy to exist, the plaintiffs must show that they have, in fact, been injured by defendants' challenged conduct. Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 734-35, 92 S.Ct. 1361, 1366, 31 L.Ed.2d 636 (1972).
In the recent case of McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 1511, 131 L.Ed.2d 426 (1995), plaintiff had been fined for distributing anonymous leaflets opposing a school tax levy. Plaintiff's standing to sue was undisputed, as she had suffered a concrete injury — conviction of a misdemeanor and imposition of a fine. Here, plaintiffs face similar sanctions, but only prospectively. However, the threat to plaintiffs, while prospective, is of sufficient immediacy to confer standing and satisfy the ripeness requirement since the issues raised are significant ones involving First Amendment freedoms. In Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 155, 110 S.Ct. 1717, 1723, 109 L.Ed.2d 135 (1990), the Supreme Court reiterated that, in order to satisfy the case or controversy requirement of Article III, a plaintiff must have suffered a concrete "injury in fact." In cases where the injury is prospective only, this requirement is satisfied, and the plaintiff has standing to sue, if the alleged harm is imminent and impending. Id. at 155, 158, 110 S.Ct. at 1723, 1724. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976), the fountainhead case involving congressional regulation of elections, illustrates that plaintiffs have met this requirement in the present case. In Buckley, candidates brought suit to enjoin enforcement of provisions of federal law which imposed, among other things, limits on campaign spending. The Supreme Court concluded that the interests of certain plaintiffs, while prospective, were sufficient to present "a real and substantial controversy admitting of specific relief...." Id. at 12, 96 S.Ct. at 631. The court similarly finds that plaintiffs in this action have presented such a real and substantial controversy, so as to establish standing.
Nor is there a problem with ripeness. It is well-established that an issue is ripe for judicial review when the challenging party is placed in the dilemma of incurring the disadvantage of complying or risking penalties for non-compliance. Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 93 S.Ct. 739, 35 L.Ed.2d 201 (1973); Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97, 89 S.Ct. 266, 21 L.Ed.2d 228 (1968). Accordingly, the court finds that the claims presented by plaintiffs are ripe for the court's consideration.
At the present time, this action is before the court on a motion for preliminary...
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