Rickert v. Public Disclosure Commission

*845¶1 The United States and Washington Constitutions both protect the right of free speech, and political speech is the core of that right. The notion that a censorship scheme like RCW 42.17.530(1)(a) may be constitutionally enforced by a government agency erroneously “presupposes [that] the State possesses an independent right to determine truth and falsity in political debate.” State ex rel. Pub. Disclosure Comm’n v. 119 Vote No! Comm., 135 Wn.2d 618, 624-25, 957 P.2d 691 (1998) (plurality opinion). Yet, “ ‘[t]he very purpose of the First Amendment is to foreclose public authority from…