Independence Institute v. Colorado Secretary of State

Independence Institute v. Colorado Secretary of State is a federal lawsuit filed in 2010 in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The plaintiffs in the case seek to have a federal judge determine whether several key provisions of Colorado House Bill 1326 (2009) are unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution.

Federal district judge Philip Brimmer issued a 39-page preliminary injunction on June 11, 2010, forbidding the state of Colorado from enforcing several key provisions of Colorado House Bill 1326 (2009). Judge Brimmer's order, in particular, found that the provisions of HB 1326 that ban compensating petition circulators on a pay-per-signature basis

Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP, a law firm in Denver, is handling the litigation on behalf of the plaintiffs.

A key finding in the June 11 preliminary injunction is:

"Based on Dr. Smith’s testimony and in consideration of the other evidence offered at the hearing, the Court finds that pay-per-signature compensation is no more likely than pay-per-hour compensation to induce fraudulent signature gathering or to increase invalidity rates."

Ruling

On Monday, April 1, 2013, Judge Brimmer overturned the portion of the law banning paying petitioners on a by-signature basis. Judge Brimmer ruled that those sections of the law violated First Amendment rights. At the time of writing, the Colorado Attorney General had not decided whether or not to file an appeal of the decision.

Plaintiffs

Plaintiffs in the case are:

• The Independence Institute
• Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute.
• Dennis Polhill
• Jessica Corry (who worked on behalf of Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, Amendment 46 (2008))
• Mason Tvert
• Russell Haas
• Douglas Campbell
• Louis Schroeder
• Scott Lamm (of LAMM Political Partners, LLC)
• Albie Hurst (of LAMM Political Partners, LLC)
• Daniel Kennedy

See also

• Federal judge issues preliminary injunction against Colorado petition laws

External links

• Judge Brimmer's June 11 preliminary injunction in Independence Institute v. Colorado Secretary of State

Footnotes

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