Say Cheese: The Constitutionality of State-Mandated Free Airtime on Public Broadcasting Stations in Wisconsin‪.‬

I. INTRODUCTION On July 26, 2002, the State of Wisconsin, as part of a comprehensive budget bill and campaign finance reform package, required the State Board of Elections to promulgate rules that require all public television stations (including cable access channels) to provide a minimum amount of free airtime to state candidates for elective office and to offer the same amount of time to all state candidates in each race. (1) On the same day it was enacted, this law was challenged in federal court on the basis that it was preempted by federal law and violated the First Amendment free speech rights of public broadcasters. (2) On December 11, 2002, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (Judge Crabbe presiding) rejected the plaintiff's motion for judgment on the pleadings and ruled that the state law was not preempted and that the First Amendment issues were not yet ripe for review. (3)