Aljazeera is reporting, "In a ruling that could reverberate nationwide, 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 Thursday that Ohio's law, in effect since 1995, is unconstitutional and prohibited the Ohio Elections Commission and its members from enforcing the law.

"The judge said in his ruling that 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."

"…The case began after then-U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus filed a complaint when the group (the Susan B. Anthony List, an antiabortion group,) planned to post billboards claiming the Democrat's support for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul equated with support for abortion, even though he opposed abortion.

"… The anti-abortion group plans to criticize members of Congress in the midterm if they voted for the health care legislation, contending that backers support taxpayer-funded abortion. …(They have) had similar billboards up in North Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas.

"The Susan B. Anthony List said it wanted a court order so that it could inform voters without fear of prosecution.

"More than a dozen other states have similar laws."

Deb Gaber