A group of citizens has asked to intervene in Little Rock's lawsuit over when candidates in this year's mayoral election can begin raising funds.
A court filing Friday said the city's ordinance that sets a more abbreviated time frame for when city candidates can collect campaign contributions than does state law violates citizens' First Amendment rights of political association, speech and campaign finance.
The ordinance "chills and unduly burdens the exercise of these rights," the filing on behalf of Ellison Poe, Jim Rule, Lauren Appel and Jonathan Aronson said.
Poe, Aronson and Appel are all Little Rock residents. Rule lives in Maumelle. Both Poe and Rule have donated to Warwick Sabin's exploratory committee for mayor. Aronson has donated to Frank Scott Jr.'s exploratory committee for mayor. Appel has not donated to any campaign but said she wants to protect her right to do so.
Both Sabin and Scott are named as defendants in the city's lawsuit. A hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday in Circuit Judge Tim Fox's court.
The intervenors are represented by Frederick Davis and Samantha Leflar of Kutak Rock LLP.
The citizens' motion to intervene states that they "are interested and engaged in political discourse and association with others concerning current and future political leadership in the City."
They say the Little Rock's ordinance that bans campaign contributions and expenditures before June for a November election "presents a current and ongoing threat."
"The City has sought to enforce the Ordinance in the circumstances of this case, and, so long as the Ordinance remains on the books, the City has the ability, in its sole discretion, to seek to enforce the Ordinance against any person or entity, including but not limited to the Poe Intervenors. The Poe Intervenors should not have to weigh the threat posed by the Ordinance while engaging in protected First Amendment activities.
Both mayoral challengers, Sabin and Scott, have filed responses to the lawsuit seeking its dismissal. Scott also filed a counterclaim against the city that asks the judge to bar the city from enforcing its ordinance and saying the measure violates his First Amendment right.
The Arkansas Ethics Commission is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Before filing the complaint in court, Little Rock asked the commission to rule on whether the two potential candidates and their exploratory committees must abide by the city ordinance.
The Ethics Commission declined to issue an opinion on whether the men are in violation of the city ordinance, saying that as a state entity it only reviews cases involving state law.
Sabin and Scott formed exploratory committees under state law, which allows them to collect contributions two years ahead of an election. The money raised by the committees will be transferred to the men once they formally file their candidacies.
Sabin argued in his response to the lawsuit that he is not yet a candidate, thus the city's ordinance doesn't apply to him.
Little Rock argued that a state law allows cities to set their own time frame for campaign contributions, therefore the commission should rule on whether the city is rightly enforcing the ordinance, the city attorney said.
An attorney for the ethics commission has asked the judge to dismiss the commission from the lawsuit, claiming sovereign immunity.
Metro on 02/24/2018