Mike Block Key in Winning Important U.S. Supreme Court Case
Michael Block, Florida's Tax Fighting C.P.A was a big winner in a recent U.S. Supreme Court case. Colorado’s Attorney General Norton called Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation, "one of the most important First Amendment cases decided in this decade." It effectively voids laws that restrict voter-initiated ballot petitions authorized by more than half the state constitutions.
The former Port Everglades Commissioner was a key witness. He testified, "My 16 years of petitions show there is no need to protect the petition process, by restricting fundamental First Amendment free speech and petition rights. Requiring circulators to be voters, sign affidavits, file reports and wear identifying badges will destroy petitions."
Block cited a U.S. Supreme Court case strongly endorsing petitions, as a way to avoid violence, to the judge who later heard the Oklahoma bombing cases. The judge held badges violated the First Amendment. The 10th Circuit Court agreed, saying it was "core political expression." It found the reports improper and barring non-voters discriminatory. The U.S. Supreme Court struck the badge law 8-1 and the report and voter laws 6-3.
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