The Supreme Court unanimously voted Monday to allow an anti-abortion group to continue its challenge to an Ohio law that makes it a crime to lie about a candidate during a political campaign.
In 2010, when Congressman Steve Driehaus, an Ohio Democrat, was running for re-election, the group, Susan B. Anthony list, prepared to put up billboards saying, "Shame on Steve Driehaus! Driehaus voted FOR taxpayer-funded abortion."
He filed a complaint, and Ohio's elections commission found that the group violated the anti-lying law. But Driehaus dropped his complaint after losing the election.
Lower courts said the group could not continue its challenge to the law, but the Supreme Court's ruling today keeps the lawsuit alive.
Fifteen other states have similar laws, and opponents say they violate free speech. Today's ruling says nothing about the constitutionality of those laws. It merely allows the legal battle to continue.
