Georgia Lawmaker Seeks Dismissal of Political Text Message Spam Case

A Georgia lawmaker is asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed against her by a constituent who claims she sent him political text message spam in violation of federal law – complaining the man “literally made a federal case” out of two text messages.

One of those messages was sent to confirm the man’s request not to receive any future messages.

Matthew Bowman of Duluth, Georgia filed a class action lawsuit against State Senator Renee Unterman on June 19 for allegedly violating the U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by sending him two text messages by way of an autodialing system. The civil complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division

Unterman filed a motion to dismiss the case July 15.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act Explained

In 1991, responding to an American electorate that had grown weary of the increasing practice of robocalling – making unsolicited, automated phone calls to people using pre-recorded voice messages instead of live callers – Congress passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA. The law restricts the use of automatic telephone dialing systems, artificial or prerecorded voice messages, and now also text messages, and requires entities making telephone solicitations to maintain do-not-call lists.

In 2012, new technology and marketing trends prompted the Federal Communications Commission, which enforces the TCPA,  to begin requiring businesses and organizations of any kind “to obtain prior express written consent from consumers before robocalling or texting them.”

George Political Text Message Spam Case Overview

In his lawsuit, Bowman claims Unterman’s political text message spam is a direct violation of the TCPA. The messages were unsolicited, he said, and based on their content, were not personal, but generic messages generated and sent by an automated system.

Bowman argues in his lawsuit the unwanted political text message spam cost him storage space on his phone, data and plan usage, battery life and time spent to deal with the messages, which he says were an invasion of his privacy.

He wants his case to be a class action suit because he suspects many other Georgia residents received the same unwanted messages he did, his civil complaint says. Bowman is asking for $2,000 in damages for each person who received unsolicited messages from Unterman.

Defendant Responds

In her bid to dismiss the case, Unterman says that Battleground Connect, a third-party hired by her campaign committee, sent the messages and they were not automated or sent randomly, as precluded by the TCPA. Battleground Connect uses “peer-to-peer text messaging” that “requires human interaction” and Bowman’s number was chosen based on public voter registration information, the senator’s motion argues.

The campaign’s outreach agency sent Bowman one text message urging him to vote for Unterman and when he responded with the message “Stop,” the agency replied with a confirmation that he would no longer receive messages from it.

Unterman, a nine-term state senator, was gearing up for the Georgia primary in June when the text messages were sent. She was one of seven Republican candidates vying for the chance to replace Congressman Rob Woodall in the U.S. House of Representatives. She lost to emergency physician Rich McCormick.

Overall, Unterman argued in court papers that Bowman’s case should be dismissed because “a single text message is not a concrete injury” and because it was filed against the candidate, who did not herself send the messages.

Political Text Message Trend

Recently, more and more political campaigns have turned to text messaging as a means of engaging potential supporters, The USA Today has reported. The trend has been fueled, in part, by studies that show recipients tend to view the text messages more reliably than e-mail messages.

The Unterman Political Text Message Spam Lawsuit is Matthew Bowman, et al v. Renee Unterman Case No. 1:20-cv-02612-JPB in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.