Network partners file briefs asking court to uphold Wisconsin Impartial Justice Act

Network partners Justice at Stake and Brennan Center for Justice have both filed separate amicus briefs on the case Wisconsin Right to Life v. Brennan in federal appeals court.

The law in question is the Wisconsin Impartial Justice Act, which establishes public funding for state Supreme Court elections. Wisconsin Right to Life has challenged a “trigger supplemental funds” provision in the law that grants additional funds to publicly funded candidates if their opponents spend more than a certain amount, which they say inhibits the free speech rights of candidates who can spend beyond the trigger limits.

Both general election candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April 2011 used the public financing system under the Impartial Justice Act. Justice at Stake noted this in their brief, stating that the public financing system allowed them “to avoid the appearance of impropriety by insulating them from major donors who may appear before them in court.”

The Brennan Center’s brief said, in part, on the issue of free speech: “First Amendment protections for political speech must be evaluated differently in the context of judicial elections. … Plaintiffs’ speculative and attenuated claims that the Wisconsin law has impaired their political speech must be weighed against Wisconsin’s compelling interest in using public financing to protect the integrity of its courts and assuring that they appear impartial.”

The Brennan Center’s brief was filed on behalf of Network partners Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Common Cause Wisconsin, and League of Women Voters Wisconsin Education Fund.

Justice at Stake’s brief had 23 sign on organizations including Network partners Chicago Appleseed, Heartland Democracy, Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Michigan Campaign Finance Network, and Ohio Citizen Action.

Justice at Stake issued a press release, which can be read at their website.

Read Justice at Stake’s amicus brief here, and read the Brennan Center’s amicus brief here.

Read more at Gavel Grab, Justice at Stake’s blog.