Federal court overturns Ohio law barring false campaign statements

Federal judge struck down the law banning political lying as unconstitutional

An Ohio law that criminalizes campaign lies was found unconstitutional and the state of Ohio was permanently blocked from enforcing it under a Thursday court decision that quoted scheming politician Frank Underwood in the Netflix TV Series “House of Cards:”

“There’s no better way to overpower a trickle of doubt than with a flood of naked truth.”

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black’s decision released late Thursday vindicated a four-year challenge to the law by the Susan B. Anthony List anti-abortion group, which was accused of violating it by a congressman whom the group claimed had supported taxpayer funded abortion in voting for the Affordable Care Act.

“In short, the answer to false statements in politics is not to force silence, but to encourage truthful speech in response and to let the voters, not the Government, decide what the political truth is,” Black’s decision said, after quoting the television show. “Ohio’s false statements laws do not accomplish this.”

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