Beacon News gives robocall legislation a "thumbs up"

Thumbs up, thumbs down

March 24, 2008

While there might be some free-speech obstacles to navigate, we give a THUMBS UP to the legislation proposed last week that targets political "robocalls." We called for such a bill shortly after the 14th Congressional District special election, and we're pleased that Reps. Tom Cross, Tim Schmitz and Ruth Munson listened to their constituents' complaints.

Rep. Bill Foster and Jim Oberweis proved that a candidate's right to political speech can be abused. The volume of automated phone calls voters received leading up to Election Day was borderline harassment. And not only did the calls annoy voters, but we're hearing that many of them were so fed up that they simply stayed away from the polls.

Obviously, something needs to be done.

House Bill 6323 could face a First Amendment challenge, but similar bans on phone blasts have been upheld in other states. We hope the exceptions written into the bill -- such as a clause that allows a live person to introduce a robocall and language that accommodates public-safety agencies and school districts -- will help the legislation survive scrutiny.