United States District Judge Philip Brimmer of the United States District Court of the District of Colorado found in favor of Plaintiff Representative Doug Lamborn, ordering him placed back on the ballot after the Colorado Supreme Court upheld his removal from the ballot for using out of state petition gatherers in violation of Colorado law. Judge Brimmer found the law a violation of the First Amendment and struck it down.
I have not read the opinion of the court, so I don’t know what standard of review the Judge invoked. I frankly don’t think this law could withstand even rational basis review, let alone a higher standard of review. Generally, First Amendment challenges are considered under an enhanced standard of review, either Intermediate Review or Strict Scrutiny.
In any event, this is the correct decision. The law infringes on First Amendment political expression while serving no rational purpose. Colorado is appealing and hopefully the Tenth Circuit upholds the Judge Brimmer’s decision, particularly given the expansive state of Supreme Court jurisprudence on First Amendment matters in general.
