Limits sought on ethics panel’s power over campaign speech

Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 | 9:28 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The American Civil Liberties Union is pushing for the repeal of the law that gives the state Ethics Commission the power to fine political candidates who make false statements about their opponents during a campaign.

Alan Lichtenstein, a lawyer for the Nevada chapter of the ACLU, said the state has effectively set up an unconstitutional "truth squad." Political insults are "part of the landscape" of a political campaign, he said.

Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU, said even the ethics commissioners have struggled with whether the law is an infringement on free speech.

Peck and Lichtenstein made their points to the Assembly Elections, Procedures and Ethics Committee that is considering Assembly Bill 127. That bill would repeal the law.

The Ethics Commission fined Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, for comments he made in a campaign. He has filed a lawsuit. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, chairwoman of the Elections Committee, has joined in the legal challenge.

The bill to repeal the law was introduced in 2001, was approved in the Assembly but died in the Senate. Giunchigliani said she expected it had a better chance of passing this session.

Beers, a member of Giunchigliani's committee, said the Ethics Commission should not be sitting in judgment of political speeches. Lichtenstein said defamation and slander are matters for courts, not a politically appointed ethics commission.

Stacy Jennings, executive director of the Ethics Commission, said it'sdifficult for the commission to determine a statement really hurt an opponent's campaign.

"We have a lot of difficulty enforcing the law," she said.

The committee ran out of time during its hearing Thursday so the discussion and debate about the bill will resume at the committee's Feb. 27 meeting, Giunchigliani said.