CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A federal judge has lifted his injunction against election laws that would require an out-of-state advocacy group to disclose its funding sources.

In a five-page opinion issued Monday, U.S. District Judge David A. Faber said that the changes enacted by the Legislature during a special session had rendered moot his earlier injunction, issued in April following a lawsuit filed by the Virginia-based Center for Individual Freedom.

The injunction will be lifted on Oct. 1.

Faber's opinion does not state that the new election laws are constitutional, just that the injunction applied only to the laws as previously written. Since they have been changed, the injunction is no longer applicable, Faber wrote.

Any evaluation of the new law must start from the beginning of the process with a request for a new injunction, the judge wrote.

Faber's earlier ruling allowed third-party groups to run advertisements just before elections without disclosing who had supplied their funding, so long as the ads did not specifically endorse or condemn a candidate for office.

The Center and other advocacy groups maintain that they are trying to educate voters on certain issues without engaging in "express advocacy" for or against specific candidates. Their opponents maintain that an "issue" ad can attack or condone candidates by portraying them in a negative or positive light.

Tom Kirby, a Washington, D.C., attorney, who represents the Center, said the issue should be whether the new laws fix the vagueness that caused Faber to issue the injunction in the first place.

"We contended that the original statute was unconstitutionally vague and broad," he said. "We believe that it was the state's burden to prove [that the new law does not have the same issue], and it didn't do it."

Recently, the Center has run television ads that encourage viewers to call Attorney General Darrell McGraw and question his handling of a $10 million settlement from the makers of OxyContin, a highly addictive painkiller.

The ad contends that McGraw divvied the settlement up "between his trial lawyer buddies and a fund controlled only by McGraw."

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A federal judge has lifted his injunction against election laws that would require an out-of-state advocacy group to disclose its funding sources.

In a five-page opinion issued Monday, U.S. District Judge David A. Faber said that the changes enacted by the Legislature during a special session had rendered moot his earlier injunction, issued in April following a lawsuit filed by the Virginia-based Center for Individual Freedom.

The injunction will be lifted on Oct. 1.

Faber's opinion does not state that the new election laws are constitutional, just that the injunction applied only to the laws as previously written. Since they have been changed, the injunction is no longer applicable, Faber wrote.

Any evaluation of the new law must start from the beginning of the process with a request for a new injunction, the judge wrote.

Faber's earlier ruling allowed third-party groups to run advertisements just before elections without disclosing who had supplied their funding, so long as the ads did not specifically endorse or condemn a candidate for office.

The Center and other advocacy groups maintain that they are trying to educate voters on certain issues without engaging in "express advocacy" for or against specific candidates. Their opponents maintain that an "issue" ad can attack or condone candidates by portraying them in a negative or positive light.

Tom Kirby, a Washington, D.C., attorney, who represents the Center, said the issue should be whether the new laws fix the vagueness that caused Faber to issue the injunction in the first place.

"We contended that the original statute was unconstitutionally vague and broad," he said. "We believe that it was the state's burden to prove [that the new law does not have the same issue], and it didn't do it."

Recently, the Center has run television ads that encourage viewers to call Attorney General Darrell McGraw and question his handling of a $10 million settlement from the makers of OxyContin, a highly addictive painkiller.

The ad contends that McGraw divvied the settlement up "between his trial lawyer buddies and a fund controlled only by McGraw."

"Tell him to return the people's money," the ad states.

Earlier this month, McGraw filed a complaint with Secretary of State Betty Ireland alleging election violations by the Center for Individual Freedom.

In a letter to Ireland dated Sept. 26, McGraw said the ad identifies him by name and position and makes factually false assertions about his actions in office.

"The advertisement clearly expressed disapproval of my positions and actions," McGraw wrote. "While the advertisement did not identify another candidate by name, it did address all of my opponent's campaign themes. ... the ads were biased in an attempt to influence voters."

Kirby declined to discuss the Center's response to Faber's ruling, saying that they were in the process of reviewing their options. He declined to say whether the Center is interested in any other West Virginia elections.

"I don't want to get into the Center's plans," he said. "People who are exercising their First Amendment rights are entitled to their privacy."

The Center will comply with the new law until and unless it gets judicial relief, he said.

Faber's order states that his lifting of the injunction does not allow state officials to apply either the old or new election laws to actions taken while the injunction was in effect.

Kirby maintained that this was to prevent "McGraw and his allies" from retaliating against the Center.

"The center has been under intense attack by Attorney General Darrell McGraw using the power of his office to retaliate against them because he disagrees with the content of what they've been saying," Kirby said. "They are muzzled in their ability to respond to these public attacks by a public official by these amendments [to state election law], and that can't be what the First Amendment means."

Attorneys for Ireland and three Democratic candidates for the state Supreme Court, who joined in resisting the injunction, could not be reached for comment.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 348-1723.