Ninth Circuit upholds Seattle, Washington law preventing a candidate from referring to his opponent in a voter pamphlet

The opinion in Cogswell v. City of Seattle is here. (Link via How Appealing.) Applying First Amendment doctrine, the court determined that the ballot pamphlet was a limited public forum and that the limitation preventing references to one's opponents was reasonable:

The restriction in SMC 2.14.060(C), that a candidate's statement “shall not discuss the opponent,” is not unconstitutionally viewpoint biased because Seattle has legitimately preserved the parameters of its voters’ pamphlet by limiting the subject matter included in the forum to candidate selfdiscussion. The restriction is reasonable because it furthers the purpose for which Seattle created the forum.

Posted by Rick Hasen at October 27, 2003 11:27 AM