INDIANAPOLIS -- A Virginia company that makes automated political phone calls is suing the state of Indiana, saying its ban on such calls violates its right to free speech.\nThe company FreeEats.com filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Indianapolis. The company wants the Indiana attorney general to stop enforcing a state law that prohibits automated political calls unless recipients agree in advance to accept them.\nEarlier this month, the state sued a California-based group called the Economic Freedom Fund to force it to stop making automated calls attacking Democratic congressional candidate Baron Hill, who is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel in the closely watched 9th District.\nFreeEats.com said in its lawsuit that it made those calls on behalf of the Economic Freedom Fund.\nThe Herndon, Va.,-based FreeEats.com claims that the state law violates free speech rights under both the U.S. and Indiana constitutions. The company also argues that the ban is an unconstitutional restraint on interstate \ncommerce.\nThe issue of political telemarketing has come up recently as the November elections draw near.\nIndiana Attorney General Steve Carter sent a letter dated Aug. 22 to state Democratic and Republican parties informing them that a 1988 state law prohibited automated phone calls for political purposes. Carter promised to enforce the law, even though it had been widely ignored during past political campaigns.\nCarter's office was reviewing the FreeEats.com lawsuit. He said Friday that the prerecorded calls are illegal and that he would not back down from enforcing the law.\n"There are a variety of ways that messages can be sent to people without violating the law and invading people's privacy," Carter said.\nCarter said that his office has been aware of the law before but that the public has become more sensitive about telephone privacy since Indiana's do-not-call law took effect in January 2002. The law prohibits most telemarketers from calling Indiana residents who are registered on a no-call list Carter's office administers.\nCarter sued the Economic Freedom Fund earlier this month in Brown Circuit Court in Nashville, Ind., after receiving 12 consumer complaints about the calls. The state's lawsuit seeks injunctions to stop them and fines of $5,000 for each violation. A hearing in the case is set for Sept. 27.
\nThe Associated Press left messages seeking comment Friday with FreeEats.com.
