Judge Kills ‘Coercive’ Term Limits Law

A federal judge struck down a Maine law that requires candidates to pledge support for congressional term limits or be branded on the ballot as a violator of “voter instructions.” U.S. District Judge Morton Brody said the law was an attempt to coerce candidates by punishing opponents of term limits with a ballot label voters might find objectionable. The law, approved by voters in 1996, requires congressional, legislative and gubernatorial candidates to actively support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would limit members of the U.S. House to three terms and senators to two terms.