Third Party Candidate for Governor Max Linn Files Lawsuit for Right To Participate in Gubernatorial Debates

28 October 2006

In a strongly worded complaint, gubernatorial candidate Max Linn today filed a motion asking the courts to step in and order the organizers of tomorrow's gubernatorial debate to allow Max Linn to participate.

The complaint argues that debate organizers are denying Linn and his campaign their rights under the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution by imposing an arbitrary and unjustified restraint on political speech by excluding Linn.

The defendants named in the action are the FLORIDA PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE, INC., the FLORIDA PRESS ASSOCIATION, INC.; LEADERSHIP FLORIDA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, INC.; and WPBT COMMUNICATIONS FOUNDATION. The complaint alleges that the defendants are "state actors" by virtue of the fact that they receive State and Federal funding or that they act in concert with state- funded foundations. Therefore they must abide by constitutional protections of freedom of speech and political freedoms.

The motion was filed today in the Circuit Court Of The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida, Civil Division.

It demands an immediate injunction, declaring that the Defendants refusal to allow Max Linn's participation in the debate to be an unconstitutional denial of Plaintiffs' fundamental constitutional rights, and therefore to be null and void.

It also calls for an immediate temporary injunction, preventing the Defendants from enforcing the "criteria" for debate participation against Max Linn. It further demands an immediate mandatory injunction requiring the Defendants to allow Max Linn to participate in the subject debates. A permanent injunction will also be sought to require the defendants to include Max Linn in future debates. The action argues that the debate criteria requiring a candidate to achieve a high percentage of popular support on opinion polls is vague, arbitrary and unjust.

In a supporting brief, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura argues that the Republican and Democratic Parties actively seek to exclude third party candidates from televised debates in an effort to maintain their monopoly on the American political process. Ventura says he was elected Governor after he successfully forced debate organizers to include him in the democratic process. Linn is counting on the courts for similar relief.

For Further Information Contact:

Liz McCallum & Doug Friedline

727-347-8784 Main Office Phone

727-214-7782 Liz McCallum Cell

727-599-9499 Doug Friedline Cell

email: max@maxlinn.com

Law Offices:

Ellis Rubin, elisrubin@bellsouth.net

Robert Barrar, rbarrar@bellsouth.net

305-576-5600

http://www.ellisrubin.com

Source: prnewswire