ACORN's Defense - Law Is Unconstitutional:

[tombogan03884]

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_07_19-2009_07_25.shtml#1248389795



   Former ACORN employees in Pennsylvania are facing prosecution for
   violating a state law barring solicitation for voter registration.
   ACORN is responding with a suit challenging the law's
   constitutionality. The NYT reports:

     Acorn hopes the lawsuit will prevent criminal prosecution of its
     local leaders and office, which have been under investigation by
     Mr. Zappalaâs office for eight months, said Witold Walczak, legal
     director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania,
     which is representing Acorn.

     âThey already charged the employees, and theyâve hinted they might
     go after Acorn next,â said Mr. Walczak, who believes this is the
     first time such a law has been challenged in federal court.

     âItâs the A.C.L.U.âs reading of this,â he said, âthat these kind of
     laws that restrict an organizationâs ability to hire and pay
     canvassers impacts on voter registration activities, which are
     constitutionally protected actions.â

    In May, seven people â five of whom Acorn said were former
     employees it had fired â were charged in Allegheny County with a
     variety of counts related to voter registration fraud, including
     âsolicitation of registration,â the state law being challenged in
     the Acorn suit.

     That law makes it a crime to âgive, solicit or accept payment or
     financial incentive to obtain a voter registration if the payment
     or incentive is based upon the number of registrations or
     applications obtained.â

   This could make for an interesting case, and could have wide
   implications. Quite a few states have similar laws.

   The Times also reports on allegations imposed quotas on its
   registration canvassers.

     Brian Mellor, senior counsel for Project Vote, an advocacy group
     assisting in Acornâs defense in Pennsylvania, said there were at
     least nine other states with similar laws: Colorado, Florida,
     Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Washington and
     Wisconsin.

     Several of the defendants told investigators that Acorn had imposed
     a quota on them, whereby they would be fired if they did not reach
     a set goal of about 20 new voter registrations per six-hour shift,
     for which they were paid $8 an hour.

     But an Acorn official said the organization never had a quota. It
     had âperformance standards,â said the official, Maryellen Hayden,
     head organizer for Acorn of Western Pennsylvania.

     âWe wouldnât fire people if they didnât reach those standards,â Ms.
     Hayden said. âWe told people, âIf you want to be the best voter
     registration worker, 20 to 25 cards is the standard.â â

     The Pennsylvania law needs to be struck down, Ms. Hayden said,
     because âthe way this law has been applied would mean that any big
     organization that does paid voter registration drives could be
     subject to charges at any time.â

     âThat creates a fear that could impede our First Amendment rights,â
     she said.

[Hazcat]

But an Acorn official said the organization never had a quota. It
     had performance standards

Gee, such a surprise when the lefties parse words.  Sorta like "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is".

Any means to obtain their ends is all they know!  SCUM!

[tombogan03884]

Gee, such a surprise when the lefties parse words.  Sorta like "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is".

Any means to obtain their ends is all they know! LAWYERS SCUM!

[Pathfinder]

No, this is a standard ploy out of Saul Alinsky's playbook - use our laws against us to force changes we don't want. So it's not really lefty parsing (ok, maybe a little) - it is intentional and part of the plan.

Wait until AKKKORN wins this one, all hell will break loose.

[twyacht]

Acorn has all the STIMULUS, our money, to defend such action,,,,,,and if they need more they have BHO on speed dial.....

1 800 BAILOUT.

[Sponsor]

[Kid Shelleen]

Acorn has all the STIMULUS, our money, to defend such action,,,,,,and if they need more they have BHO on speed dial.....

1 800 BAILOUT.

What a coincidence. Our Supreme Post Turtle was a "Community Organizer" and a major player in A.C.O.R.N. (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).

* These losers held protests in bank lobbies to get bank officers to make loans to unqualified minorities.......and the housing market collapses and almost takes down our entire financial infrastructure.

* These losers have "performance standards" for registering voters..........and thousands of illegal aliens and dead people vote for Barack Obama.

* These losers have now been put in charge of the 2010 U.S. Census.........certainly there won't be any irregularities with the census. No illegals suddenly being counted as legal Americans. None of the information collected will be incorrect or used against those of us that are clinging to our guns or religion. No redistricting will take place. Certainly u.s. Census information will not result in anyone being placed on the "Terror Watchlist."

How could anyone suggest that a fine, upstanding organization like ACORN ever broke a law? Why they sholud challenge the constitutionality of everything that interferes with their most honorable pursuits.


SARCASM OFF

[True_Texan]

But an Acorn official said the organization never had a quota. It had performance standards

Gee, such a surprise when the lefties parse words.  Sorta like "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is".

Any means to obtain their ends is all they know!  SCUM!

It just as HAZ pointed out, it's funny how terms get redefined. A sarcastic example is when law enforcement gets accused of having ticket quotas. "We don't have quotas, we have requirements for how many tickets each officer needs to issue."