rssOhio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group’s Lawsuit Against Elections Law
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 12:18 pm
- 13 Comments
A district court Judge in Ohio yesterday rejected a lawsuit from the Susan B. Anthony List, which argued an Ohio elections law prohibiting false claims was unconstitutional because it violated the group’s right to free speech.
The suit relates to a longstanding conflict between pro-life groups like SBA List and pro-life Democrats over the legislators’ votes for federal health care reform, which the groups stubbornly maintain, against the opinion of most experts, will pour new federal funding into coverage for abortion. When Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) challenged the group’s plans to erect a billboard alleging he voted for taxpayer-funded abortion, the case went before the state election commission, and the owner of the billboards refused to post the ads for fear of becoming entangled in the case.
As a result, SBA List filed suit last week claiming the Ohio law was unconstitutional because the government is unjustly empowering itself to determine truth and falsehood in elections. In the end, Judge Timothy Black did not address the constitutional merits of the case, arguing instead that that SBA List did not face irreparable harm from the commission’s execution of its statutory duty to determine whether a political advertisement violates Ohio’s law. It was the private billboard company, not the commission, after all, that ultimately decided not to run the advertisements.
That said, the case will likely stay alive long after the elections are over. SBA list president Marjorie Dannenfelser immediately signaled her intention to appeal the ruling, arguing that the Ohio law “effectively gives a state agency the ability to police free speech.”
Follow Jesse Zwick on Twitter13 Comments
Pingback posted October 26, 2010 @ 1:05 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jesse Zwick and GLORY, WashIndependent. WashIndependent said: Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against Elections Law http://bit.ly/dlpP3b [...]
Pingback posted October 26, 2010 @ 1:37 pm
[...] Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against Elections LawThe Washington IndependentAs a result, SBA List filed suit last week claiming the Ohio law was unconstitutional because the government is unjustly empowering itself to determine …Federal Judge Allows Congressman to Shut Down Pro-Life Group's Election EffortLifeNews.comall 99 news articles » [...]
Pingback posted October 26, 2010 @ 2:32 pm
[...] View full post on The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted October 26, 2010 @ 3:15 pm
[...] Originally posted here: Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against … [...]
Pingback posted October 26, 2010 @ 4:23 pm
[...] Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against Elections LawThe Washington IndependentAs a result, SBA List filed suit last week claiming the Ohio law was unconstitutional because the government is unjustly empowering itself to determine …Federal Judge Allows Congressman to Shut Down Pro-Life Group's Election EffortLifeNews.comall 99 news articles » [...]
Pingback posted October 26, 2010 @ 8:20 pm
[...] Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against … [...]
Pingback posted October 26, 2010 @ 9:24 pm
[...] Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against … [...]
Pingback posted October 26, 2010 @ 9:35 pm
[...] Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against … [...]
Pingback posted October 27, 2010 @ 5:23 am
[...] of Ohio criminal law. The SBA List had planned to run billboards reading “Shame on Steve …Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against Elections LawThe Washington IndependentJudge Allows Driehaus Case against Susan B. Anthony List to Move [...]
Pingback posted October 27, 2010 @ 6:34 am
[...] Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against … [...]
Pingback posted October 27, 2010 @ 8:12 am
[...] …Ohio billboard case on abortion funding in health care law advancesCatholic News AgencyOhio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against Elections LawThe Washington IndependentJudge Allows Driehaus Case against Susan B. Anthony List to Move [...]
Pingback posted October 27, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
[...] Denies Ohio Election Law Challenge From Susan B. Anthony ListMedical News Today (press release)The Washington Independent -OneNewsNow -Politicoall 104 news [...]
Trackback posted October 27, 2010 @ 10:20 pm
Ohio District Court Rejects Anti-Abortion Group's Lawsuit Against ……
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
