COAST Demands Constitutional Right to Lie

taestell:

What happens when you can’t win a ballot issue based on the facts?

COAST today filed a suit in federal court in Cincinnati seeking to overturn Ohio’s law against false statements in issue campaigns. […]

COAST claims Ohio Revised Statute 3517.22 violates constitutional free-speech protection. The statute makes it a crime — punishable by prison and fines – to “Post, publish, circulate, distribute, or otherwise disseminate, a false statement, either knowing the same to be false or acting with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not, that is designed to promote the adoption or defeat of any ballot proposition or issue.”

In other words: when you can’t tell the truth, sue for the right to lie.

Free speech isn’t universally free. You can’t defame another person. You can’t induce panic by yelling “fire” in a crowded theatre. And you shouldn’t be able to lie to win an election.

Don’t let COAST amend our city’s charter — vote no on Issue 48.

Source: taestell

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  1. wtfcincy reblogged this from taestell
  2. leahincincy said: HAHAHA…Oh, COAST, you silly.
  3. taestell posted this