[EL] Lawfare: Wrong No Matter the Target

[Steve Klein]

Part of me is sympathetic to the desire to fight back against what I
consider free-speech-killing legal theories with free-speech-killing legal
theories. We live in a fallen world, after all, and perhaps with mutually
assured destruction eventually the censors might be enlightened, as the
WOPR was at the end of the celebrated film *WarGames*.

Having said that, this is wrong, and I write this because it is coming from
a right-wing organization against a reform group with which I share little
common ground:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/blog/bal-conservative-group-to-challenge-van-hollen-on-campaign-finance-20160215-story.html

It's *en vogue* to argue that *pro bono* legal counsel constitutes campaign
contributions. The Institute for Justice had to fight off the charge a few
years back after shellacking the Washington Public Disclosure Commission in
a lawsuit. Thankfully, they were successful. If this idea takes root, I
fear what the implications will be for not only the c3 or c4 status of pro
bono legal shops (which are prohibited from giving “political
contributions”), but for free speech generally.

Imagine if the ACLU had known all these years that its defenses of
neo-Nazis and other radical groups were contributions to the respective
causes.

Standing with Voltaire (and, whisper it, Democracy 21),

-- 
Steve Klein
Attorney*
Pillar of Law Institute
www.pillaroflaw.org

**Licensed to practice law in Illinois and Michigan*
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