Week in Review: Free Speech Showdown

No one should be subject to violent retaliation just for supporting causes they believe in. But across the country, Americans face that threat under state laws that are designed to scare them into silence. The Goldwater Institute is on the front lines of the fight against those laws—and in support of the freedom of speech and association.

Next week, Goldwater attorneys will stand before the Arizona Supreme Court and argue in opposition to Proposition 211, a 2022 law that requires nonprofits engaged in policy debate to disclose their donors’ personal information — including their names and addresses — to the government to be included in a public database.

The law is an un-American affront to the freedom of speech and association.  Goldwater attorneys will argue that Proposition 211 violates the Arizona Constitution, which provides stronger protections for freedom of speech and privacy than even the U.S. Constitution. If the court strikes down the law, it could offer the first clear roadmap for mounting state constitutional challenges to donor disclosure laws across the country.

Oral arguments are slated to begin at 10:15 a.m. in Arizona on Thursday, Sept. 11.  You can live-stream the proceedings here.

Read more here.  

Defending the Right to Earn a Living in Arkansas 

The Arizona Supreme Court isn’t the only state high court where Goldwater attorneys will be appearing in the coming weeks. The Institute is headed to Arkansas in October to defend the right of a business owner to earn a living after the city of Holiday Island banned his trash-collecting operation from competing with a government-run company.

By prohibiting Steven Hedrick from doing business and competing with their specially chosen waste-removal firm, Holiday Island leaders created a government-backed monopoly. And that is explicitly prohibited by the Arkansas Constitution. The government-run trash company isn’t even required to offer the same services as Steven.

Goldwater attorneys will be arguing at the Arkansas Supreme Court on Oct. 2. It will be the sixth state supreme court where Goldwater has stood up for constitutional rights and limited government.

Read more here.  

Goldwater Calls Out Media Lies about School Choice 

While the legacy media continues to tear down school choice, Goldwater Institute experts keep exposing the lies. That was a case in an AZ Free News op-ed, where Matt Beienburg, Goldwater’s director of education policy, exposed two bogus media attacks against Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program.

The Arizona Capitol Times, Matt noted, recently ran a headline declaring that the state approved $124 million in improper ESA purchases. But it wasn’t true. The amount was exaggerated by up to 100 times, and the purchases were never approved.

While the Times corrected its mistakes, the teachers’ union-aligned 12News team in Phoenix continues to falsely claim that the state has approved ESA purchases for iPhones, televisions, and other non-educational items. But, Matt explains, the state’s own handbook makes clear that ESA reimbursements aren’t considered approved until the state has had time to audit them.

Just like their tax returns, these families’ ESA purchases are processed up front and subject to enforcement afterward, Matt writes. The Goldwater Institute is proud to be the nationwide leader in expanding school choice, and we will stop at nothing to defend it.

Read Matt’s op-ed here.