Campaign Lies

[Silver]

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday testing whether states can make it a crime to lie about candidates during an election campaign.

At issue is an Ohio law that imposes potential jail time or a fine for the first offense, and possibly loss of the right to vote for anyone convicted twice. The case before the court, however, involves not a person, but an organization.

First, though, those challenging the Ohio law have to jump an important procedural hurdle.

The Supreme Court's five most conservative members have, in the past, been very strict about requiring a showing of actual harm to justify getting in the courtroom door. But the same justices have also been aggressive in protecting the First Amendment right of free speech.

In the Ohio case being argued Tuesday, civil libertarians on the right and left have filed briefs opposing the law against lying, and by extension similar laws in about one-third of the states.

The Cato Institute and satirist P.J. O'Rourke contend in their brief that falsehoods "are cornerstones of American democracy."

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/22/299171030/...paign-lies