Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508280083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Short
U.S. District Judge James Turk ruled in June the network's advertising attacking President Clinton, which ran in several newspapers and on television stations, was permissible.
The FEC filed its appeal Friday. It filed a $1.26 million lawsuit against the network last year, claiming the conservative watchdog group broke a law that prohibits certain tax-exempt organizations from ``expressly advocating'' the defeat of a presidential candidate.
The television commercials, which aired in 25 cities in the fall of 1992, claimed Clinton supported ``special rights'' for homosexuals, showed scenes from gay rights marches and asked, ``Is this your vision of a better America?''
Similar newspaper ads ran in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Washington Times.
Turk said the network's First Amendment rights are not relinquished during an election year and said the ads were not explicit enough to qualify as ``express advocacy.''
David Carroll, the network's attorney, said Friday he was not surprised by the FEC's appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
``The [lower] court's decision was very well-reasoned,'' Carroll said. ``And I think that it's unlikely that the FEC appeal will be successful.''
The court case has cost the Christian Action Network tens of thousands of dollars, Carroll said. The group has sent fund-raising letters to 60,000 supporters to raise money to cover those costs.
by CNB