Karen Sampson and her Colorado neighbors just won a serious victory for liberty.

In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Colorado’s disclosure laws for grassroots political groups.  This is a big deal.  As the Associated Press put it, “The issue is ripe for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

The federal appellate court held that Karen and her neighbors in the tiny subdivision of Parker North, Colo., should not have been forced to register with the government and comply with burdensome campaign finance laws simply for opposing a ballot issue involving the annexation of their neighborhood.

I wrote previously at Big Government that Karen and her neighbors opposed an effort to annex their town into a neighboring city because it would raise their taxes without providing them benefits.  So they printed up fliers and yard signs.  And then they got sued.

Under what basis?  Colorado’s campaign finance laws, which state that any group of individuals that spends over $200 magically becomes an “issue committee” that is forced to register with the state.  Further, they had to track and report all their “contributions” and “expenditures” and disclose the identities of anyone who gave them money.

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[Ed: This excerpt is Part 3 from a series originally reported by City Hall. Part I can be seen here, Part II can be seen here. Lead reporter on the investigative series was Edward-Isaac Dovere.]

The Working Families Party has irregularly reported rent payments over the years on its state campaign finance disclosures, leading some to question whether the Party has been getting what could be considered large in-kind contributions in the form of office space.

Also among the recipients of rent payments was an entity called NYOSCI, listed on multiple documents as having an address in New Orleans identical to one used by many ACORN entities on incorporation documents.

NYOSCI has been the recipient of most of the Party’s recent rent payments, though some have also been made to Community Labor Administrative Services, a group also reporting the 2-4 Nevins Street address on records with the State Board of Elections.

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