Today, United States District Court Judge Susan Dlott issued a Preliminary Injunction against the State of Ohio, temporarily preventing it from enforcing restrictions preventing former State Representative Thomas E. Brinkman, Jr. from representing COAST before the Ohio legislature on legislative matters.Under the present law, Brinkman's volunteer activities in lobbying for COAST were made a crime. In contrast, former state representatives who went to work for state agencies for pay were permitted to lobby for greater government spending legally. The federal district court ruled that the free nature of the services provided by Brinkman undermined the state's argument that the regulation "protected the integrity of state government," and further that the unequal treatment of private organizations such as COAST, as compared to state agencies, was unconstitutional.
The decision may be accessed here. Enquirer article here.
"COAST is pleased that this egregious abuse of power by the State of Ohio was enjoined by Judge Dlott," said COAST Chairman Jason Gloyd. "Now taxpayers are on a fair footing when approaching their legislators to reduce the size and scope of government."
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