harming the public’s interest in a robust campaign,” the order read.

 

Appeals panel blocks law’s use in NC campaign ad prosecution

By The Associated Press and WSOCTV.com News Staff

August 23, 2022 at 7:29 pm EDT

But Tuesday’s order from the majority — U.S. Circuit Judges Toby Heytens and Albert Diaz — says Stein’s campaign and other lawsuit plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their challenge that the law violates First Amendment free-speech protections.

The law’s language says a violation occurs when a person knows a derogatory report “to be false or in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity,” the order said. So the law could actually criminalize someone who makes a true statement, according to the judges.

“Candidates running for office in North Carolina might well be chilled in their campaign speech by the sudden reexamination of a criminal libel law that has been dormant for nearly a decade — harming the public’s interest in a robust campaign,” the order read. Heytens was nominated to the 4th Circuit by President Joe Biden, while Diaz was the choice of President Barack Obama.  https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/grand-jury-weighs-possible-charges-against-north-carolina-ag/CS5G6TUFFRGHLLGGVZ3QG5CI6U/