The Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation has appealed in court a decision by the state ethics commission against a Cape Elizabeth town councilor.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union filed the appeal last Thursday on behalf of Cape Elizabeth Town Councilor Mike Mowles, arguing that the decision and the law it was based on violated his free speech rights. The Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices had ruled in June mailings sent by Mowles quoting Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins were misleading because their statements appeared to be endorsements.

In June, Mowles was running against Jennifer Duddy in a Republican primary for a seat in the House of Representatives. The senators had provided the quotes for a prior campaign. Mowles mailed the leaflets just days before the June 13 primary elections.

Ethics Commission Director Jonathan Wayne said he wasn’t surprised by the appeal since Mowles had already asked the Commission to reconsider. He added that during the Commission’s ruling his lawyer made it clear he would appeal the decision.

Additionally, Mowles’ lawyer, David Lourie, said the decision harmed both Mowles’ chances in the primary and his career as a mortgage broker. Mowles lost the Republican bid for the House of Representatives to Jennifer Duddy who brought Mowles’ fliers to the Commission the day before the vote.

“Mr. Mowles hopes to have his reputation restored,” said Lourie. “His work is all referral and word of mouth. His reputation is important. He needs to have someone say he didn’t do wrong.”

The Civil Liberties Union also wants the law the decision against him was based on to be found unconstitutional.

“We can’t undo what happened June 13, but we can ensure that for all future candidates the playing field is even,” said Civil Liberties Union Director Shenna Bellows.

“It is definitely about the larger principle,” she added. “It is inappropriate for a government to step in and determine whether or not language is misleading. That should be up to the voters.”

The law the Ethics Commission based its decision upon prohibits distributing unauthorized campaign materials. Because the senators had not authorized the use of their quotes in this election, the Commission ruled using them mislead the public.

In Wayne’s three years as director of the Commission, he said that not only is the controversy rare, but that he has never seen the Commission use the law before.

Bellows, who has directed the Civil Liberties Union for one year, also said she hadn’t heard of this law being used.

Lourie also intends to argue that the original hearing was done on too short of notice. Mowles was informed of the complaint an hour and a half before the hearing and was unable to attend.

According to Phyllis Gardiner of the Attorney General’s office, the Commission felt it had to deal with the complaint at that time because both the mailings and the complaint happened so close to the election. She also said Mowles’ appeal does not challenge the election results in any way and argues only that the statute is unconstitutional.