Attorney General Steve Carter has filed a lawsuit today in Brown County Circuit Court against a group making automated phone calls targeting Democratic congressional candidate Baron Hill. Carter also is seeking a preliminary injunction against the California-based group, Economic Freedom Fund, which is financed by Bob J. Perry, a Texas homebuilder with close ties to White House adviser Karl Rove. Perry also bankrolled the Swift Boat attack ads against the war record of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry in 2004.
Carter is holding a news conference at 2:15 p.m. today to discuss the legal action.
Carter, a Republican, began investigating the calls after receiving complaints about them from people who live in the 9th Congressional District in southeastern Indiana. Hill is running to represent the district, against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Sorrel and Libertarian Eric Schonberg.
While political calls are exempt from Indiana's do-not-call law, they are not exempt from a 1988 law which bans prerecorded automated calls. A live person must first seek a person's permission before playing a recorded message.
The entire writeup is here.
