Patriotic Veterans, Inc. v. State of Indiana

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 11-3265
Decision Date: 
November 21, 2013
Federal District: 
S.D. Ind., Indianapolis Div.
Holding: 
Reversed and remanded
In action by plaintiff-non-profit Illinois corporation, seeking declaration that Indiana Automated Dialing Machine Statute, which prohibited use of autodialed calls unless receiver had consented to such calls, was either invalid as applied to plaintiff’s political messages or was preempted by similar Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that exempted from said prohibition autodialed calls that were not made for commercial purpose, Dist. Ct. erred in granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on grounds that TCPA preempted Indiana statute. TCPA provisions did not expressly preempt Indiana statute, and Ct. found that neither field preemption nor conflict preemption applied. Ct., though, remanded matter for consideration of plaintiff’s First Amendment/free speech rights argument.