Wisconsin Family Connection
Week of August 9, 2010 – #847 
No GABbing Allowed

It’s something you might expect to find in an Orwellian novel or a communist state like China or a liberal state like New York. But here in the great state of Wisconsin? Never! Well, think again. On August 1, 2010 Wisconsin, which has been dabbling in election censorship for years, officially launched into a new world of restricting free speech during elections.

Six un-elected, retired judges – all appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle and approved by the State Senate– wield incredible power over Wisconsin’s election laws as the members for Wisconsin’s incongruously titled “Government Accountability Board,” or GAB.  In the grand, and entirely un-American, tradition of philosopher-kings, these appointed judges exercise their apparently unquestionable judgment to create, administer and enforce Wisconsin’s election-related law.

Never mind that they are political appointees. Never mind that there are only six of them. Never mind that they have a distinct history of being blatantly, liberally biased. They have the power to restrict free speech during elections in the state of Wisconsin!

Essentially, under the new rules GAB just created (Section 1.28 of the Administrative Code under the Government Accountability Board), Wisconsin Family Action and Wisconsin Family Council cannot send anything to Wisconsin citizens about candidates or issues within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election.   If we do, to avoid potentially being put in jail, we have to register a special fund with the state, pay $100, declare what we will be doing in advance, take an oath, file onerous reports, and put disclaimers on everything. 

Apparently, GAB thinks that whatever you or WFC have to say about candidates is just gab – idle talk that should not be allowed instead of what it really is, constitutionally protected free speech.

Attorneys have told us we may not even be able to distribute our 2010 Voter Information Publication!  This law covers all forms of communication, and it covers both organizations and individuals.  That means you as a private citizen might be breaking the law if you forward one of our emails that mention the names of candidates or even if you post a Facebook status about a candidate!  We are doing everything we can to determine what we--and you as a citizen--can and cannot do under these new rules, but what we really need is for the rules to go away!

This is a violation of our free speech rights.  Lawsuits have been filed, and we hope one of them will be successful and will immediately stop the enforcement and implementation of these new rules.  However, we cannot just sit by and wait and hope. 

This week we launched a petition urging GAB to rescind the unconstitutional rule. We need you to sign our petition immediately and tell everyone you know in Wisconsin about these rules as quickly as you can. Visit our website. www.wifamilyaction.org, and click on the “Take Action” link to sign the petition and then forward it to friends and family.

This is serious. This rule applies to you, it applies to me; it applies to our organization; it applies to every entity you depend on for the information you need on candidates. 

Even if attorneys eventually determine that you could not, in fact, be prosecuted under the new rules for posting that Facebook status or sending that email, at the very least the new ruling has a chilling effect on free (political) speech. I’m very much concerned, however, based on the reports and legal analysis we’re getting, that these new rules will have a much greater impact than just chilling political speech.

Don’t miss the significance and the clever timing of these rules. They were released on August 1, making it very difficult to get an injunction in time to eliminate the potential impact on the state Primary Election on September 14th since 30 days out from that date is August 15. The rule would have to be enjoined by September 4th to avoid impacting the general election.

Now’s the time for you as a citizen to speak up.  Sign our petition at www.wifamilyaction.org.  Just click on “Take Action.” And alert your Wisconsin family and friends about the petition! I wish I could say this new rule was just a bunch of GAB, but it’s not and it could have a serious impact on the outcome of this fall’s elections!  We’re not living, friends, in a Brave New World.

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”