On November 2, the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion in Libertarian National Committee v Holiday, 17-6216. The case concerned a U.S. Senate debate in Kentucky in 2014, when Senator Mitch McConnell was running for re-election. The Libertarian Party petitioned for a place on the ballot in that race, and hoped to be included in candidate debates. The party perceived that Kentucky Educational Television set rules for inclusion in that debate, but then when it realized that the Libertarian might qualify, it changed those rules. The new rules required that the candidate have raised at least $100,000 and be at 10% in the polls.

The decision barely mentions that evidence, and upholds the debate exclusion. The decision even says that debate sponsors need not have any objective criteria, much less that the sponsor must publish those criteria. The decision erroneously says that the Kentucky Libertarian Party is not automatically on the ballot. That was true in 2014, but it is not true now, and the decision should have clarified that. The decision is by Judge Raymond Kethledge (a Bush Jr. appointee), and signed by Judges Alice Batchelder (a Bush Sr. appointee) and Helene White (a judge who was first nominated by Clinton but didn’t get confirmed until Bush Jr. re-appointed her).