NC law banning false statements about politicians is blocked in court

A state law that bans the publication of “derogatory” falsehoods about politicians likely violates the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge said Monday, siding with Attorney General Josh Stein in a ruling that will keep Stein’s campaign from facing any criminal charges under the law for now.

Stein’s campaign faces a criminal investigation based on the law, he revealed last week. But his campaign sued, arguing in court filings and an interview with The News & Observer that the century-old law is clearly unconstitutional and that courts in numerous other states have already struck down similar laws for violating the First Amendment.

The federal judge assigned to the case, Catherine Eagles, quickly agreed. A nominee of Democratic President Barack Obama, Eagles wrote that Stein’s campaign and the other plaintiffs in the case are likely to win on their argument that the law “is unconstitutional under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

She granted the Stein campaign’s request for a temporary restraining order. A trial can still go forward, so the government will get the chance to argue in favor of the law if it chooses, but for now the order Monday is a win for Stein’s campaign. Neither Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman — who told The N&O she had recused herself from the investigation — nor any of her subordinates will be allowed to bring criminal charges based on the law, at least while this order remains in place.

Stein’s 2020 opponent, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill, had requested the investigation over an ad blaming O’Neill for a large backlog of untested evidence from sexual assault cases in his home county. O’Neill had criticized Stein for the same issue, since the attorney general leads the State Crime Lab, where some but not all of those evidence kits are stored and tested — or not, as has often been the case in North Carolina.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.