Court Vacates Decision Against FreeEats13 Sept 2007
Washington, D.C. - FreeEats.com, today, announced that it is pleased that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit vacated a ruling against it by a Federal Court in Indiana in October 2006, but is disappointed that the 7th Circuit chose not to rule on the merits of its First Amendment rights of political free speech.
“We operate under the political free speech protection of federal interstate law. Therefore we will continue to challenge any restrictions of political free speech until we actually obtain a ruling from the Courts on the merits of our case,” said Gabriel Joseph, President of FreeEats.
FreeEats’ law suit alleged that enforcement of the state statute against FreeEats violates free speech rights under the United States and Indiana constitutions, and constitutes an unconstitutional restraint on interstate commerce. Interstate calls are protected against state regulation and prohibition under the Interstate Commerce clause, Article 1, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution. In debating whether to pass the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), Congress expressly recognized that the states did not have any authority to regulate or prohibit interstate telephone calls and in an effort to provide proper federal regulation over interstate calls, Congress adopted the TCPA which gives the Federal Communications Commission regulatory authority over such calls.
FreeEats had filed suit seeking to enjoin the Indiana Attorney General from attempting to enforce certain provisions of an Indiana statute that ignores the federal role regarding interstate calls. His actions “chill” critical First Amendment rights of FreeEats, its clients, and the voters of Indiana. The Attorney General’s efforts are particularly serious because they seek to stop the most effective means of communicating with constituents and citizens, and they violate the Federal law that permits these types of interstate calls.
FreeEats.com is a data-base company which employs an automated telephone system which asks survey questions and tabulates the “Yes” or “No” responses. All such responses are voluntary and are identical to live caller interaction.
The Attorney General has filed suit in state court seeking penalties against entities like FreeEats for making automated, interactive-voice response telephone calls into Indiana on behalf of organizations active in the political process.
As stated above, the FCC has expressly exempted political and survey calls from the restrictions of the TCPA.
About FreeEats.com - FreeEats.com is a privately-held database company headquartered in Virginia which uses a patent-pending survey technology. Its interactive voice response telephone system allows FreeEats to ask multiple questions to which the responder gives voice answers rather than the alternate technology which uses telephone push buttons to indicate the responses. FreeEats is scrupulous in its efforts to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.