 Claire Ball of Addison is seeking the office of state comptroller as a
Libertarian Party of Illinois candidate, and Scott Schluter of Marion is running
for the Legislature in the 117th Representative District under the same banner.
In their federal lawsuit filed Nov. 19, the two argue the state’s ban on
campaign giving by medical marijuana cultivation centers and dispensaries, as
well as related political action committees, violates the protections of free
speech and free association guaranteed in the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution. They also cite protections afforded in Article 1, Sections 4 and
5, of the Illinois Constitution.
Ball and Schluter are represented by lawyers from the Liberty Justice Center in
Chicago and the Pillar of Law Institute in Washington, D.C.
Named as defendants are Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Illinois State
Board of Elections Chairman Charles Scholz, and each of the members of the State
Board, all in their official capacities.
A Madigan spokeswoman on Monday said the attorney general’s office had received
the lawsuit, is reviewing it and will file its answer with the court by the Dec.
10 deadline.
Ball and Schluter argue the state has “enacted a ban against political
contributions by one class of disfavored speakers —medical cannabis cultivators
or dispensers—while contributions by similarly situated speakers in other
businesses subject to state licensure are not banned.”
And, they say, “medical cannabis cultivators and producers are not singularly
more corrupting than similarly situated individuals.”
While Ball and Schluter say they’ve not accepted such contributions, they do
favor marijuana legalization and would like to gather support from those who
agree.
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 “Were they free to do so, plaintiffs would start soliciting and
accepting campaign contributions now and in any future elections
from medical cannabis cultivators and dispensaries,” the lawsuit
says.
The plaintiffs contend the state’s ban on campaign contributions
“has forbidden candidates for public office from associating with
one class of individuals — medical cannabis cultivators,
dispensaries, and their related PACs. This constitutes a prior
restraint against plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights of free speech
and association that cannot be sustained by any imaginable
government interest.”
They ask the court to find the campaign contribution ban
unconstitutional and forbid its enforcement, as well as an award of
$1 in damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and any other relief the
court deems appropriate.
The case is number 15-cv-10441. It was filed in the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.
The Illinois Medical Cannabis Pilot Program has authorized eight
cultivation centers. Six approved dispensaries are currently
operating, according to the state, and a total of 20 to 25 licenses
dispensaries are expected to be open by the end of the year. The
state health department estimates there are about 3,300 qualifying
patients.
— Illinois News Network reporter Greg Bishop contributed to this
story.
Editor’s note: Plaintiffs’ attorneys in this case include lawyers
with the Liberty Justice Center, which is affiliated with the
Illinois Policy Institute. The writer reports for the Illinois News
Network, an independent project of the Illinois Policy Institute.
Click here to respond to the editor about this article
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