 |
|
Judge throws out newspaper debate suit
By Robert Boczkiewicz
The Pueblo Chieftain
DENVER - A judge has thrown out the lawsuit of two candidates who sued executives of The Pueblo Chieftain and other news organizations that excluded them from debates the newspapers and television stations sponsored.
Senior Judge Zita Weinshienk, in a three-page decision made publicly available Wednesday by the U.S. District Court, dismissed the lawsuit of Rick Stanley and Doug "Dayhorse" Campbell.
Stanley was last year's Libertarian Party candidate for the U.S. Senate and Campbell was the Constitutional Party candidate.
They sought a court order that would have required the news organizations to allow those two candidates to participate in the debates.
Stanley and Campbell's lawsuit was directed against newspapers in Colorado Springs and Denver in addition to The Chieftain, plus radio and TV stations in Denver and Colorado Springs.
An attorney for The Chieftain had said it was obvious from previous voting results that there was little public interest in the candidacy of some minority parties.
Weinshienk's decision was based on a recommendation of Magistrate Judge O. Edward Schlatter who concluded that the court had no jurisdiction. The Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission have the jurisdiction to enforce the laws that the two candidates used as a basis for their lawsuit, he said.
She also said their claims for alleged violation of due process and free speech must be thrown out because those claims can be brought only against governmental entities.
| Home |
|
Email Rick Stanley at rick@stanley2002.org |