Posted by Jonathan Adler:
ACORN's Defense - Law Is Unconstitutional:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_07_19-2009_07_25.shtml#1248389795
Former ACORN employees in Pennsylvania are facing prosecution for
violating a state law barring solicitation for voter registration.
ACORN is responding with a suit challenging the law's
constitutionality. The NYT reports:
Acorn hopes the lawsuit will prevent criminal prosecution of its
local leaders and office, which have been under investigation by
Mr. Zappala�s office for eight months, said Witold Walczak, legal
director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania,
which is representing Acorn.
�They already charged the employees, and they�ve hinted they might
go after Acorn next,� said Mr. Walczak, who believes this is the
first time such a law has been challenged in federal court.
�It�s the A.C.L.U.�s reading of this,� he said, �that these kind of
laws that restrict an organization�s ability to hire and pay
canvassers impacts on voter registration activities, which are
constitutionally protected actions.�
In May, seven people � five of whom Acorn said were former
employees it had fired � were charged in Allegheny County with a
variety of counts related to voter registration fraud, including
�solicitation of registration,� the state law being challenged in
the Acorn suit.
That law makes it a crime to �give, solicit or accept payment or
financial incentive to obtain a voter registration if the payment
or incentive is based upon the number of registrations or
applications obtained.�
This could make for an interesting case, and could have wide
implications. Quite a few states have similar laws.
The Times also reports on allegations imposed quotas on its
registration canvassers.
Brian Mellor, senior counsel for Project Vote, an advocacy group
assisting in Acorn�s defense in Pennsylvania, said there were at
least nine other states with similar laws: Colorado, Florida,
Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Washington and
Wisconsin.
Several of the defendants told investigators that Acorn had imposed
a quota on them, whereby they would be fired if they did not reach
a set goal of about 20 new voter registrations per six-hour shift,
for which they were paid $8 an hour.
But an Acorn official said the organization never had a quota. It
had �performance standards,� said the official, Maryellen Hayden,
head organizer for Acorn of Western Pennsylvania.
�We wouldn�t fire people if they didn�t reach those standards,� Ms.
Hayden said. �We told people, �If you want to be the best voter
registration worker, 20 to 25 cards is the standard.� �
The Pennsylvania law needs to be struck down, Ms. Hayden said,
because �the way this law has been applied would mean that any big
organization that does paid voter registration drives could be
subject to charges at any time.�
�That creates a fear that could impede our First Amendment rights,�
she said.
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