Anti-Abortion Group Challenges Ohio Ban On Campaign Lies (Click here to read more)
LISA CORNWELL - June 22, 2014, 8:15 AM EDT.
CINCINNATI (AP) - A national anti-abortion group wants a federal court to block an Ohio law barring people from knowingly or recklessly making false statements about candidates seeking elective office.
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The Susan B. Anthony List filed a motion Friday in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, asking that the law not be enforced while the group continues to challenge its constitutionality. The motion says the statute violates free speech rights and "chills core political speech."
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that the group could challenge the law, raising doubts about whether Ohio's law and similar ones in other states can survive complaints that they violate free speech rights.
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The anti-abortion group challenged Ohio's ban when it tried to post billboards attacking then-U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus in 2010. The planned ads accused him of supporting taxpayer-funded abortion with his vote for President Barack Obama's health care law. Driehaus filed a formal complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission, saying the ads misrepresented the facts and violated Ohio's false speech law. The billboard owner feared threatened legal action by Driehaus and declined to post the ads. Driehaus dropped the case after losing his re-election bid.
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