ACLU supports Grassroot in court
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D., President / CEO, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
I had the privilege earlier this week of witnessing in a courtroom setting an eloquent legal defense of the First Amendment. It was a great reminder that the future of liberty depends on protecting our freedom of speech.
You might recall that the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii filed a federal lawsuit in June challenging the constitutionality of the state’s newly enacted Act 11 — a law that, if it is allowed to take effect next July, will prevent nonprofit organizations such as ours from speaking out on ballot initiatives and other election-related topics.
As Grassroot’s president, watching the arguments unfold in court during the preliminary injunction hearing for our case filled me with pride and felt like a powerful, firsthand lesson in constitutional rights.
Presiding U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi did not indicate when she will issue a decision regarding the future of the lawsuit, but she did point out that Grassroot “has this history of community involvement, exercising its First Amendment rights, being involved in political questions.”
Outside the courtroom, there is plenty of confusion about what Act 11 does. The law’s defenders seem to be under the impression that it will address election or campaign financing in some way. But it actually has nothing to do with either.
What it will do is redefine corporations — such as nonprofits, associations, partnerships and so on — under state law as not having the right to speak on electoral issues.
The problem with that, of course, is that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from deciding who can and cannot speak. And Americans don’t lose their First Amendment rights when they join together to speak.
If the state of Hawaii is allowed to decide that nonprofits and other organizations don’t have the right to speak on election issues, what other rights could be taken away from us? The right to speak about any political issues at all? The right to distribute materials about unionization or some other controversy?
As Judge Kobayashi acknowledged, political speech and education are central to what we do. We carry out that work regardless of whether an election is coming, and many of our supporters look to us to guide their decisions on key issues.
Fortunately, we aren’t the only ones raising the alarm. The national American Civil Liberties Union, headquartered in New York City, pointed out in an amicus brief supporting our lawsuit that constitutional protections for free speech cannot be undone by simply redefining corporate power.
The ACLU wrote in its brief: “The Act directly prohibits and indirectly chills a great deal of political advocacy engaged in every day by nonprofit and charitable organizations across the ideological spectrum.”
So there you have it. Act 11 threatens the right of all Hawaii residents to participate in the political process, whether as an active member of an organization or a supporter who wants their interests represented. Allowing it to take effect would cripple free speech and free association and could mean the end of Grassroot and similar community groups.
That is why we had to file this lawsuit — to protect free speech for all. And I hope liberty prevails.
E hana kākou! (Let’s work together!)
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