The State Supreme Court today ruled for free speech. Or, as AP's Rachel La Corte reports,
A unanimous state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that two radio talk show hosts who used airtime to support a gas-tax rollback initiative they launched were not required to report their commentary as an in-kind political contribution.
She quotes Bill Maurer of the Institute of Justice.
"This is a victory for free speech and a free press in Washington state," said William Maurer, executive director of the Institute for Justice Washington chapter, who argued the case before the high court. "Washingtonians can rest assured that the news and voice and commentary they hear has not been censored or restricted by the government in any way."
David Postman's Seattle Times blog has more, including a link to this context-setting story by Ralph Thomas and Andrew Garber.
The decision is here and the harder-hitting concurrence is here.
The court got it right.
