• Cybercast News Service, Wednesday, March 28, 2007 10:47 AM

Groups from across the political spectrum want the U.S. Supreme Court to kill a ban on organizations airing issue ad on TV or radio 30 days before a primary and 60 days before a general election. "The work of the government does not cease in the days leading up to an election, and those who seek to comment on key political and cultural issues should not be silenced during that period," says Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of conservative group American Center for Law and Justice.

Sekulow adds that "citizens enjoy a fundamental right to petition for a redress of grievances. To prohibit the use of genuine issue ads by grassroots lobbying organizations is not only wrong, but it also violates that sound constitutional principle."

ACLJ has filed a brief on its behalf -- and right-wing fringe organization Focus on the Family -- that asks the high court to lift blackout periods made law by a 2002 "Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act." The two groups are joined by an unlikely ally -- and frequent enemy -- the ACLU, which has filed its own brief in the case.

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