Indiana’s ban on political robocalls withstands court challenge

AG Zoeller: Indiana’s ban on political robocalls withstands court challenge
Zoeller: Ruling is big win for Hoosier telephone privacy rights

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A federal court has ruled to uphold Indiana’s comprehensive ban on automated robocalls to peoples’ phones without their consent, issuing a big win for Hoosiers’ telephone privacy rights.

The ruling, issued late yesterday by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, was in response to a legal challenge filed in 2010 by nonprofit Patriotic Veterans, attempting to carve out an exception to the robocall ban for political messages.

“This important ruling ensures Indiana’s strict telephone privacy laws remain intact. Hoosiers value their privacy and do not want to be bombarded with unwanted robocalls. As I’ve said many times, robocalls are the tools of scam artists. There are plenty of legitimate, lawful ways to contact people and disseminate political information, but blasting out pre-recorded messages to thousands of numbers at a time with no regard for privacy is not one of them,” Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said.

Zoeller’s office enforces the state’s telephone privacy laws and investigates complaints about robocalls and other unwanted calls, which remain the top complaint received by his office. Last year, the office received nearly 14,000 complaints about unwanted calls, a majority of which were about robocalls.

In its ruling, the U.S. District Court credited the state’s role in restricting robocalls:

“Because ADAD [auto-dialed] calls intrude on the privacy and tranquility of the home and the recipient does not have the opportunity to indicate the desire to not receive such calls to a live operator, the government has a substantial interest in limiting the use of unsolicited, unconsented-to ADAD calls.”

While this lawsuit was pending, Indiana’s Auto Dialer law, Ind. Code 24-5-14, remained in effect. The law restricts the use of technology that automatically dials residential phone numbers and plays prerecorded messages, also called robocalls, with few exceptions. The penalty for violating the Indiana Auto Dialer law is up to $5,000 per call.

Last month, Zoeller warned political campaigns to adhere to state telephone privacy laws and refrain from robocalling residents leading up to the 2016 primary election on May 3 and the general election on Nov. 8.

The attorney general said his office will not hesitate to go to court to seek enforcement action against those who violate Indiana’s statute.

Campaigns and political groups are allowed to make traditional “live” calls, even to numbers registered on the Do Not Call list, as long as the calls are not sales calls.

Zoeller said if someone receives an unwanted campaign call, simply ask to be removed from the caller’s list. To block general telemarketing calls, sign up for the Do Not Call list at www.IndianaConsumer.com or by calling 1.888.834.9969.

Indiana residents who receive a political robocall or any other unwanted call can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office by visiting www.IndianaConsumer.com or calling 1.888.834.9969.

Zoeller thanked Solicitor General Thomas M. Fisher and Deputy Attorneys General Heather McVeigh and Marguerite Sweeney for their work on this case.