Court Grants Injunction in Mayor Coffman’s Suit Against Aurora Campaign Rules
Suit Alleges City Rules Violate First Amendment Rights to Back Candidates, Ballot Measures
Lakewood, CO: An Arapahoe County District Court judge has granted a preliminary injunction in Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of new city rules governing political campaigns.
Coffman filed suit in March, asserting that the Aurora ordinance violates both the First Amendment and the Colorado Constitution by prohibiting many former and future candidates from pushing for ballot issues or helping other candidates with their campaigns. The restrictions apply even when the former for future candidate’s name will not appear on the ballot in the next election.
Coffman argued numerous times during the debate over the ordinance that these provisions violated the First Amendment, but most of the Council brushed his concerns aside. Now, however, a court has agreed with Coffman, holding that “the challenged parts of the Ordinance stifle protected speech as well [as] the related right of association.”
Although the City argued these provisions were necessary to fight corruption or the appearance of impropriety, the court was skeptical and said the City’s arguments rested on “dubious premise[s].”
The Mayor supports other aspects of the campaign ordinance, including campaign finance limits.
“These extreme rules are designed specifically to deny me the fundamental right to publicly support candidates or ballot initiatives,” Mayor Coffman said. “I’m grateful that the Court has granted an injunction suspending these rules while our lawsuit to have them declared unconstitutional continues.”
Coffman is represented in the lawsuit by the Public Trust Institute (PTI), a nonprofit public interest law firm that litigates to advance liberty and individual rights in Colorado.
“There’s nothing in the First Amendment that excludes Mayors or other elected officials from speaking out on elections or publicly backing political candidates,” said Dan Burrows, PTI Legal Director.
Burrows noted that the practice of American elected officials speaking out on issues or supporting political candidates is as old as the country itself.