The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request to review a lower-court decision that struck down a 101-year-old Minnesota law that made it a crime to make false political statements about a ballot question.
The review had been sought by Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and former Blue Earth County Attorney Ross Arneson, who has since retired.
The high court's refusal to hear the case appears to have resolved a lawsuit brought in 2008 by two individuals, Joel Brude and Ron Stoffel, and campaign committees with which they were involved, the 281 Care Committee and Citizens for Quality Education. They were working to defeat school bond levies.
Supporters of the levies claimed the two men made false statements and threatened to sue under the Fair Campaign Practices Act, according to their lawyers. Rather than be sued, the men sued in federal court to have the statute declared unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery dismissed the case, but the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed her last September.
In a statement, attorney Erick Kaardal said, "Yes, pinch yourself, the grass roots activists won at the Eighth Circuit on important free speech issues for all Minnesotans. Minnesotans can now speak freely against school district bond referendums without fear of retaliatory lawsuits by school districts. Seven years of litigation was a small price to pay for the freedom won today."
The office of Pat McDermott, who succeeded Arneson as Blue Earth County attorney, referred questions to the Hennepin County attorney's office, which it said was handling the case.
Freeman defended his position in a brief statement on Tuesday.
"This is fairly basic," Freeman said. "People should not lie in a campaign. We went to the Supreme Court on that principle and we believe in it."
Randy Furst • 612-673-4224
