A federal judge has struck down Ohio's law barring people from knowingly or recklessly making false statements about candidates.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black ruled on Thursday the 1974 Ohio law is unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled that an anti-abortion group should be able to challenge the law, in a case growing out of a 2010 congressional race. The Susan B. Anthony List contended the Ohio statute violates free speech rights and chills a variety of political speech.
In his opinion Black wrote that the Ohio law is "inherently flawed" because it requires a government board – the Ohio Elections Commission – to determine if a candidate or organization has lied in a campaign. Black wrote the response to false statements "is not to force silence, but to encourage truthful speech in response" and allow voters to make their own determinations.
The case began after then-Congressman Steve Driehaus filed a complaint when the group planned to post billboards claiming the Democrat's support for the Affordable Care Act was support for abortion, which he opposed. The Ohio attorney general's office had no immediate comment.
