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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

District Court dismisses First Amendment challenge to Montana’s statute banning robocalls

Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security Robocalls State Legislation Courts

Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security

On February 9, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana denied a plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, which sought to overturn the State of Montana’s statutory restrictions on robocalls. Among other things, the plaintiff—a Michigan-based political consulting firm that relies on automated calls to gather data—claimed the 1991 Montana statute violated its right to free speech under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution by prohibiting automated sales and political campaign calls. However, the court ruled that the Montana statute is sufficiently narrowly tailored and is intended to preserve and protect residents’ “control over [their] property and personal choices regarding receipt of communications.” Exemptions to the ban, the court explained, can occur “if the permission of the called party is obtained by a live operator before the recorded message is delivered.” The narrow tailoring leaves “ample alternative (including all of the more traditional) channels of communication for the protected political speech.”