The Imminent End to Restrictions on Political Speech

Sixteen states have laws that make it a criminal offense to make false public statements about a politician during a political campaign.  Today, the Supreme Court move along the process of getting rid of those restrictions on free speech.  The Court held unanimously that a group accused of violating such a law could proceed with a suit to overturn the law even if the person who first filed the complaint decided not to proceed with that complaint.

This is certainly not a surprising result.  Think about it.  Suppose that during a campaign, one candidate or another filed a complaint against a group opposing him or her on the grounds that the group was making false statements.  That's a criminal complaint that could lead to some rather severe penalties.  Then after the election but before any resolution of the complain, the politico said "nevermind" and withdrew the complaint.  The group would have been faced with the potential of severe consequences and would likely have curtailed its claims before the election.  That, after all, is what the politico wanted.  If the challenge to the law failed just because the complaint was withdrawn, the law would remain on the books for use by the politicians and there would be no way to stop this barrier to free speech.  Every justice on the Court, both liberal and conservative, agreed that this could not be allowed to stand.

It is a victory for free speech.