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After a recent Washington State Supreme Court ruling declared that lying in a political campaign constitutes free speech, candidates for office will be forced to stick to the truth under Senate Bill 6202, proposed by 35th District Sen. Tim Sheldon (D-Potlatch).
A case involving Sheldon’s 2002 re-election campaign made its way to the Washington State Supreme Court, and in a 5-4 ruling the Court ruled that his opponent’s political brochure containing false information about Sheldon’s voting record was protected speech.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling leaves candidates vulnerable to defamation from their opponents. By closing this loophole, we’ll make sure that Washington’s politicians will be held accountable if they lie in a campaign,” Sheldon said.
Justice Barbara Madsen said in her dissenting opinion that “the use of calculated falsehood is not constitutionally protected.” In his concurring opinion, Chief Justice Gerry Alexander said that the ruling “goes too far in concluding that any government censorship of political speech would run afoul of the First Amendment.”
Sheldon’s bill would prohibit political candidates from maliciously sponsoring any false defamatory political speech. Sheldon’s proposal would put Washington in line with several other states with similar laws prohibiting defamation in campaign speech.
“The Supreme Court ruling leaves the door open for any candidate to lie about their opponents, and now we have the responsibility to slam that door shut,” said Sheldon.
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