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Monday, October 30, 2006
It gets even hotter: Wiggins tells TV stations to pull the Hunstein attack ad, or else
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mike Wiggins’ campaign has sent a letter to TV stations airing the attack ad by incumbent state Supreme Court Justice Carol Hunstein, demanding that they yank the 30-second spot. Failure to do so could result in a loss of licenses, the campaign’s manager warns.
An informed reader has already called in to say that TV stations can’t be held liable for the content of candidate ads. We’ll let you lawyers in the crowd tell us whether that’s so.
Here’s the letter:
“I am writing on behalf of the Mike Wiggins for Georgia Supreme Court campaign in regard to an advertisement by Carol Hunstein regarding Mr. Wiggins and his family.
“The Atlanta newspaper called the advertisement “the most brutal ad Georgia’s ever seen.â€? The text of the advertisement is attached.
“This advertisement is false and misleading. For the sake of both FCC licensing requirements and the public interest, your station should immediately cease airing this advertisement.
“The Hunstein advertisement claims Mr. Wiggins’s sister ‘said he threatened to kill her while she was 8 months pregnant.’ That statement is patently false and misleading, particularly to the extent that it suggests that Wiggins was subject to a restraining order, which he was not.
“Mr. Wiggins never threatened his sister, and any charge that he did is utterly false. Indeed, the false statement was made solely to avoid having her deposition taken. Mr. Wiggins did file a motion in a guardianship case to prevent the removal of life sustaining care from his Mother while she was in a coma.
“Years earlier, at his Mother’s request, Mr. Wiggins made a promise to her that he would protect her life and her life savings. The Order entered by the Court, which merely implemented a settlement agreement between the parties, completely vindicated Mr. Wiggins’s position in the case.
“It plainly was not an order by a judge who believed that a threat had been made by Mr. Wiggins and the ad is incomplete as it suggests that it was ordering Mr. Wiggins alone not to have contact. Indeed, the full paragraph indicates that it was a mutual decision on both sides.
“In fact, not only did the order give him sole control over his mother’s finances and health care, it also ordered that his sister return personal property to the estate and to repay over $12,000 to the estate.
“You have a duty under Federal Communications Commission regulations ‘to protect the public from false, misleading or deceptive advertising.’ Licensee Responsibility With Respect to the Broadcast of False, Misleading or Deceptive Advertising, 74 F.C.C. 2d 623 (1961).
“Failure to prevent the airing of ‘false and misleading advertising’ may be ‘probative of an underlying abdication of licensee responsibility’ that can be cause of the loss of a station’s license. Cosmopolitan Broad. Corp. v. FCC, 581 F.2d 917, 927 (D.C. Cir. 1978).
“The Hunstein campaign advertisement is false, misleading and deceptive. We demand that you refuse to continue to air this advertisement. If this advertisement continues to air, we may pursue any and all legal avenues available to us.
“We can be reached at (404) 233-7775 if you have any questions regarding this letter. Please contact me to inform me of your decision. And, please know we appreciate your attention to this matter.
“Sincerely,
“R.J. Briscione
“Campaign Manager
“Mike Wiggins for Georgia Supreme Court”
Carol Hunstein, meet Bernie Marcus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This race for state Supreme Court justice gets more and more interesting.
Earlier today, we told you that the state Republican party — given the go-ahead by Gov. Sonny Perdue — is backing challenger Mike Wiggins with more than $1 million.
Wiggins’ opponent is incumbent Justice Carol Hunstein, who has collected endorsements from some of the most powerful Republican lawyers in the state.
Now comes word that the Safety and Prosperity Coalition, the 527ish group backing Wiggins, has filed its campaign disclosure report.
The group has raised $1.6 million. Of that, $1.3 million came in October from something called American Justice Partnership, a Washington organization that describes itself as “a national non-profit coalition of leading corporations, think tanks, foundations, trade associations, individuals and organizations advocating for legal reform at the state level.�
American Justice Partnership has been active in judicial races in New York, Oregon and Illinois as well.
And who might be one of the founders of American Justice Partnership? That would be Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Atlanta-based Home Depot, the world’s largest home-improvement retailer. This according to the Washington Post.
Here’s the disclosure from the Safety and Prosperity Coalition.
Mary’s out, Zell’s in: Miller dishes out the warm and fuzzy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue is up with a TV ad that looks to be his closer for the ‘06 election. It’s a warm-and-fuzzy narrated by his new best friend and predecessor, Zell Miller, the ostensible Democrat.
See it here and talk amongst yourselves.
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