Political Advertising (H 7970, S 2644)

The General Assembly passed another ACLU-drafted free speech bill, this time ensuring citizens the right to criticize their elected officials in public newspapers.  Prior to this legislative session, a lawsuit was filed against a private citizen who took out an advertisement in the Warwick Beacon, criticizing a number of elected officials by name.  The lawsuit relied on an overly broad section of law barring the use of any person’s name, portrait or picture in an advertisement without their written consent.  This legislation clarified that the law applies only to commercial advertisements, and not “to the use of names, portraits, or pictures in political speech or on matters of public concern”.