MEYER v. GRANT

Legal Principle at Issue

Does a state statute prohibiting the payment of petition circulators violate the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech?

Action

Affirmed (includes modified). Petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

A Colorado statute allows a proposed state constitutional amendment to be placed on a general election ballot if its proponents can obtain the signatures of at least 5 percent of the total number of qualified voters on an "initiative petition" within a 6-month period, but makes it a felony to pay petition circulators. 

Concluding that they would need the assistance of paid personnel to obtain the required signatures within the allotted time, appellee proponents of a constitutional amendment that would remove motor carriers from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission's jurisdiction brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against appellant state officials, seeking a declaration that the statutory payment prohibition violated their First Amendment rights. The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado upheld the statute, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ultimately reversed, holding that the statute violates the First Amendment, as made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment.