State high court strikes down Amendment 54

By Charles Ashby
Monday, February 22, 2010

In a ruling released today, the Colorado Supreme Court struck down Amendment 54, the 2008 constitutional amendment designed to bar campaign contributions from anyone who has sole-source government contracts.

The court said the amendment, which won narrow approval by voters, violated the First Amendment’s right to free speech as it relates to campaign finance law.

“We find it impossible to achieve Amendment 54’s legitimate purpose without substantially rewriting the amendment from the bench,” the court said in its opinion. “Therefore, we find the entire amendment unconstitutional.”

Last summer, a Denver district court judge had approved a preliminary injunction barring the implementation of the amendment pending a court challenge, which primarily came from labor unions.

Former Colorado justice Jean Dubofsky, who represented plaintiffs in their challenge of the new law, said the measure was over broad.

“Amendment 54 would have restricted the political speech of thousands of individual Coloradans and organizations, and we are pleased that the Supreme Court agreed,” she said.