Teachers union sues over quote used in fund-raising letter

By The Associated Press

05.27.02

Printer-friendly page

LANSING, Mich. — The state's largest teachers union is suing a conservative think tank for quoting the union's president in a fund-raising letter.

The quote from Michigan Education Association President Lu Battaglieri appeared in a letter sent to supporters of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The letter was released May 21 by the Mackinac Center, which accused the MEA of trying to trample its free-speech rights.

The letter said: "This fall, Luigi Battaglieri ... stated, 'Frankly, I admire what the Mackinac Center has done.' Mr. Battaglieri, whose union is generally at odds with the Mackinac Center, said this with respect to how Mackinac Center research has shaped education reform in Michigan and around the nation."

The quote was taken from a speech Battaglieri gave last September in Lansing. The letter was sent last November.

MEA spokeswoman Margaret Trimer-Hartley said the union sued because the Mackinac Center is using Battaglieri's name to raise money. She angrily denied the Mackinac Center's charge that the MEA is trying to stifle free speech.

"We engage in healthy debate. We do not want to quash healthy debate," she said. "We simply want to stop the Mackinac Center from using our organization to make money for their cause."

The MEA and the Mackinac Center, which supports free-market economic policies, have long been at odds over education reform issues such as charter schools and private school vouchers.

The Institute for Justice, a Washington, D.C.-based legal firm that argues school-voucher cases, said on May 21 that it would defend the Midland-based Mackinac Center for free.

"This lawsuit seeks to stifle the most effective voice for education reform in Michigan," said Chip Mellor, president of the Institute for Justice.

Clark Neily, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, said courts had established the right of nonprofit groups to distribute newsworthy information, and that the news value of the letter superseded its use as a fund-raising tool.

But Trimer-Hartley said the letter was clearly being used for commercial reasons, which she said weren't protected by the First Amendment.

"Commercial use of our reputation and our organization can be regulated," she said.

As part of its lawsuit, the MEA also demanded a list of the people who received the Mackinac Center's letter. The Mackinac Center is refusing to provide that list.

The Mackinac Center said it is no longer using any materials that mention Battaglieri.

Neily said he hopes Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Peter Houk will dismiss the MEA's lawsuit by the end of this summer. If not, a trial date is set for November.