Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. Fontes -- Friend-of-the-court brief
On March 22, 2024, three nonpartisan, nonprofit, pro-democracy organizations — League of Women Voters of Arizona, Protect Democracy, and Campaign Legal Center — filed a friend-of-the-court brief in AZFEC v. Fontes urging the Court to dismiss the Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s (AFEC) challenge to the EPM. AFEC’s lawsuit argues that revised provisions of the EPM explaining existing legal prohibitions against election-related harassment and intimidation violate the First Amendment.
The amicus brief explains why AFEC’s legal challenge is wrong and explains how AFEC does not have a First Amendment right to intimidate voters and election workers, which is especially important given the vigilante dropbox monitoring operation in Maricopa County (which was eventually halted by a federal judge) during the 2022 election.