The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a state law that requires a live operator on the phone before any recorded message is delivered does not violate the right to free speech or the right to participate in political speech.
Read the Court Opinion (h/t Election Law Blog)
The 4-1 decision involves a case that began in 2006 in which FreeEats.com, an automated phone messaging operator, sought to overturn an Indiana law that forbade so-called robocalls, or unsolicited calls with automated messages.
The case stemmed from automated calls the company made on behalf of a group called the Economic Freedom Fund during the 2006 congressional campaign.
“Robocalls generate a harm that directly impacts the interest of residential privacy,” the court said in its ruling.
The Supreme Court said a trial court “incorrectly found that FreeEats had a reasonable likelihood of success on its claim that the live-operator provision of the Autodialer Law violates … the Indiana Constitution.”
Full Article: Court Shoots Down Indiana Robocalls – Indiana News Story – WRTV Indianapolis.