Attorney James Bopp, Jr. will request an injunction to continue a grassroots lobbying campaign opposing the filibuster.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 11:00AM EDT
WHERE: US District Court for the District of Columbia
E. Barrett Prettyman US Courthouse
333 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

Washington, D.C. -- Wisconsin Right to Life (WRL) is filing suit today to defend its freedom of speech rights to run a broadcast advertising campaign that asks Wisconsin citizens to contact Senators Russell Feingold and Herbert Kohl and to urge them to oppose the filibustering of President Bush's judicial nominees.

Under the provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, more commonly known as McCain-Feingold, WRL is prohibited from continuing to air its TV and radio grass-roots lobbying campaign, because it names Senator Feingold -- who is running for re-election -- within 30 days prior to the primary election on September 14 and then within 60 days prior to the general election. Wisconsin Right to Life can mention Senator Kohl's name in electronic advertising throughout the fall since his name is not on the ballot. The ad campaign began with radio ads on July 26. TV ads are slated to start next week.

This year's election cycle will be the first election under the provisions of McCain-Feingold, which was enacted in March 2002 and effective November 2002. Numerous organizations, in addition to WRL, have expressed opposition to this broadcast ad ban, including the AFL-CIO, the American Civil Liberties Union, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Right to Life Committee.

In December, 2003, the United States Supreme Court upheld the broadcast ban against a facial challenge. The Court, however, left open claims that the broadcast ban would be unconstitutional as applied to certain types of ads. Wisconsin Right to Life will be the first organization in the country to file suit in federal court claiming that the broadcast ban is unconstitutional as applied to certain ads -- here grass-roots lobbying advertisements.

"Now is the time for organizations like Wisconsin Right to Life to challenge a law that we believe infringes on United States citizens' First Amendment right of freedom of speech," said Barbara Lyons, Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life. "The broadcast ban wrongly restricts citizens' ability to learn about and influence on an upcoming vote in Congress."

James Bopp, Jr. will file suit against the Federal Election Commission on behalf of Wisconsin Right to Life in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at 11:00 a.m. EST today. The suit requests an injunction to allow Wisconsin Right to Life to run anti-filibuster grass-roots lobbying ads into the broadcast ban blackout period. Bopp represented numerous parties as one of the lead counsel in the original case challenging the McCain-Feingold law, McConnell v. FEC, but this will be the first case where an active advertising campaign will be the basis for the suit.

"The McCain-Feingold law drastically reduces the influence of the citizen of average means because the association of like-minded individuals is essential to effective participation in the public arena," Bopp said. "With the little guys locked in the dungeon of nonparticipation, the rich and powerful will run politics, much as they did before the adoption of the first and foremost campaign reform, the First Amendment. The First Amendment protects the right of citizens to influence those in power on the critical issues of the day through grass-roots lobbying."

Lyons said that the TV and radio ads, featuring a theme of "be fair," use humor to point out the chaotic situations that can exist as a result of delaying important decision-making -- "This is not dissimilar from filibustering, creating a judicial emergency in some courts, instead of making a decision regarding President Bush's judicial nominees," Lyons said. Both the TV and radio ads carry the tagline, "Contact Feingold and Kohl and tell them to oppose the filibuster."