Court rules against Ohio false statement campaign law

COLUMBUS (AP) — A federal appeals court is calling unconstitutional an Ohio law barring people from knowingly or recklessly making false statements about candidates.

The Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group, has contended the Ohio statute violates free speech rights and chills a variety of political speech.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today sided with a judge’s 2014 decision that said the law was unconstitutional and prohibited the Ohio Elections Commission and its members from enforcing the law.

The ruling involves a case that grew out of the anti-abortion group’s plans in a 2010 congressional race to link a Democratic candidate’s support of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul to support for abortion, which he opposed.