[Noisebridge-discuss] Partisan definition

[Shannon Lee]

It seems to me that this is a lawyer question, and speculation by non-lawyers will just get us in trouble. If we can get a lawyer to tell us that wikileaks is not a partisan org, and that supporting them will not jeopardize our 501c3, that would be good enough for me. 

Is this something we care enough to spend $300 on for an hour of lawyer time?  Does anybody want to donate $one layer hour to make this happen?

--S

--

Shannon Lee
(503) 539-3700

On Dec 8, 2010, at 15:49, Christie Dudley <longobord at gmail.com> wrote:

> This word has come up quite a lot in discussions recently, and it occurs to me that people don't seem to understand what it means.  This is totally understandable because the meaning has dramatically shifted within the United States, specifically with respect to politics and legal requirements.
> 
> The traditional definition describes a group of people who band together to represent the people, usually in a military fashion, resisting occupation and/or royal rule.  These are fighters for the people.  By this definition, I think we would all have to agree that Wikileaks would certainly qualify as a "partisan" organization.
> 
> The American legal definition is (surprise, surprise) pretty stilted from this.  It refers pretty specifically to registered political parties and people who are running for office.  I don't think anyone could argue that Wikileaks has direct impact on any election, despite how much we want to have some effect on elected officials.  (Or more likely concern for the effect elected officials have over Wikileaks.)
> 
> So with this definition, I think we can leave the 501(c)(3) status out of the discussion.  This is not to say that "the government" won't come down in other ways on us, up to and including having us branded a terrorist organization and seizing assets and whatnot.  I suspect there are some folks involved here who would really enjoy being branded a terrorist for speaking out for what they believe, but that's pretty tangential.
> 
> Christie
> _______
> "It is the time you have lost for your rose that makes your rose so important."
> Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
> 
> "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart."
> William Butler Yeats
> 
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