[EL] Help on Direct Democracy Issue in Missouri

[Reuben, Richard C.]

Hi all,
I am consulting on an important direct democracy issue in Missouri. In brief, a local government has skirted a certified recalled petition by withdrawing an ordinance authorizing a development project, as prescribed by ordinance, and then repassing it with a slight, immaterial alteration.
The plaintiffs, a citizens group fighting the development, have sued in federal court alleging free speech, petition clause, and due process violations. The city claims it has done nothing wrong because it withdrew the ordinance as required, and cites cases to the effect that the First Amendment permits speakers to speak, but does not require the government to listen.
The city has obviously circumvented the ordinance, thus giving the recall petition no practical effect.  I view this as a serious encroachment on direct democracy writ large because if allowed to stand, any local government could do this with any recall, thus effectively negating the recall as a check on representative government.
This is untenable to me as a matter of democratic theory, but I could use some help translating that into First Amendment law as that is not my area of expertise.  I am unaware of anything on point, state or federal, but if you know of something, I would appreciate cites. I could also use cites that would help me make the argument that state law can give substantive effect to federal First Amendment rights, or that the First Amendment itself can confer substantive rights.
Feel free to reply to the group or to me privately. Thanks in advance.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20150220/43f0befc/attachment.html>