An End to Political Witch Hunts

An unfortunate trend in election law is emerging across America. Campaign finance laws—first designed to supposedly eliminate corruption in government—often instead become the tools of political operatives used to delay, impede, and harass opponents. In other words, campaign finance reform itself is corrupting; its tool is the criminalization of American politics.

Last week, WyLiberty celebrated an important win in the battle against this criminalization. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declared, once and for all, that Tom DeLay was innocent of all claims that he violated state election law or laundered money. WyLiberty played an important role in that fight and our friends of the court brief helped ensure that the First Amendment rights of speakers just like Mr. DeLay will be protected nationwide.

To recall, Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint against Mr. DeLay alleging that money swaps—where certain kinds of donations are traded for other ones—constituted criminal acts in Texas. Of course, Republicans and Democrats alike had used these swaps for years totaling millions of dollars. We thought it especially unfair that one man, Mr. DeLay, was the subject of a vast investigation into his life just because he was effective politically.

America is a nation that celebrates rigorous debate, political innovation, and standing up for your beliefs. We are a nation of independent thoughts, ideologies, and opinions. A rigorously upheld First Amendment secures this independence— it stops thought crimes, the criminalization of politics, and the chilling of our public debate.

While we celebrate a momentary victory in Texas, we look forward to further engagement across America. In Wisconsin, conservative groups still battle against a speech inquisition, including pre-dawn raids. Back in Texas, Empower Texans must push back against the state prying into their private political affairs. And in Arizona, state officials are worried that the Free Enterprise Club might be "operating illegally."

What is abundantly clear is that those who enjoy power in the status quo do not very much appreciate the disruptive influence of groups like Empower Texans or the Wisconsin Club for Growth. But these groups are important to our local and national dialogue about the future of our country. To criminalize their efforts is a disgrace to our nation's commitment to free speech. WyLiberty looks forward to engaging the speech police wherever they may strike in order to ensure that the First Amendment functions to preserve our sacred liberty to espouse political beliefs and values and to work together to realize them.