DENVER (AP) -- The Colorado Supreme Court has upheld a decision by a judge to put a hold on most of a voter-approved ban on some political contributions, siding with unions and nonprofit groups that challenged it as unconstitutional.
The high court agreed with Denver District Judge Catherine Lemon that provisions of Amendment 54 are unconstitutionally overbroad, vague and violate equal protection.
The court said Monday the amendment cannot be fixed because removing the unconstitutional sections leaves it meaningless. The court sent the case back to the judge, saying further review is needed.
Lemon issued a ruling last year throwing out Amendment 54, which bars anyone tied to businesses that hold at least $100,000 in no-bid government contracts from contributing to political candidates.
It also barred all unions that negotiate for government workers from making campaign contributions and required that the state publish a list of all companies that were awarded contracts without going through a bidding process.
The amendment was approved by 51 percent of the voters in 2008.
Lemon said the measure violated unions' constitutional rights of freedom of speech and equal protection under the law by banning political contributions by any political committee created or controlled by a covered union while not prohibiting contributions by political committees that are created or controlled by businesses.
ffball.pdf
