Tiny newspaper triumphs - but no one must pay

At a cost of $80,000, the ACLU and the publisher beat the elections commission.

By LUCY MORGAN, Times Senior Correspondent
Published October 2, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Sometimes a courtroom victory leaves one wondering about the cost of justice.

Take the case of the Wakulla Independent Reporter, a tiny newspaper published in the Florida Panhandle that the Florida Elections Commission effectively shut down for more than a year.

Thanks to the generosity of the ACLU, which financed a lawsuit against the state agency, the publisher won: The state threw in the towel after the case went before a federal judge.

But the publisher and the ACLU will not be allowed to recover any of the $80,000 in fees and expenses they say it cost them.

Publisher Julia Hanway says it was her good fortune that she had an attorney, Robert Rivas, and a law firm, Sax & Sachs, willing to take the case.

"If it wasn't for them, I would never have been allowed to print another issue of the Wakulla Independent Reporter, and the FEC's relentless pursuit of their admittedly incorrect position would have been allowed to stand."

It started in 2005, when the commission accused the free tabloid newspaper of being an "electioneering communication," in violation of a law that requires those who spend more than $100 to publish election materials to register and report contributions and expenditures.

Newspapers are exempt, but the commission said the Reporter was masquerading as a newspaper, that it was advocating an antigrowth agenda and campaigning against certain Wakulla County commissioners.

Investigators questioned Hanway's failure to print the name of a publisher or to include obituaries, wedding announcements and ads from local businesses.

Though the commission decided not to pursue formal charges, the agency put Hanway on notice that if she continued to publish, she could face fines.

Hanway sued the commission, saying it was violating the First Amendment, which protects free speech and newspapers.

At a hearing earlier this year, the commission announced that it no longer believes Hanway's publication is in violation of the law and assured U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle that the commission will not pursue a future case against her.

Hinkle dismissed the lawsuit last week, noting that with the promise not to pursue the paper, the issues are moot. The judge did note that commission executive director Barbara Linthicum vigorously defended the suit at first but "saw the light only on the courthouse steps - indeed in the courtroom itself."

Hinkle's decision underscores Hanway's right to publish a newspaper, but doesn't allow her to recover any of the $80,000 in legal fees spent fighting the case.

"It's a mystery to me how Hinkle could have come up with this determination," Hanway said, "because the FEC would never have relented if I had not had attorneys who were willing to fight the FEC's original decision."

Said Rivas: "At least we accomplished shining a light on the lack of competence and integrity of the Florida Elections Commission. The place needs to be cleaned out. They knew they were going to lose and it was the only way to save something."

Linthicum declined to comment.

Hanway thanked the ACLU and Rivas for making it so she could continue publishing a newspaper that calls attention to growth and development problems in a county with some of the state's most vulnerable assets.

"Speaking of which," she said, "the next issue will be out shortly."

Lucy Morgan can be reached at lmorgan@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 2, 2007, 00:07:15]