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The lengthy saga that is the challenge to the Ohio statute making it a criminal offense to lie during the course of a political campaign reaches its latest chapter on December 10 at 9 AM.

Followers of our blog know that Susan B. Anthony List, et al. v. Ohio Elections Commission was first brought in 2010 to challenge the Ohio statute arising from the 1st District Congressional Campaign of Chabot v. Driehaus.  In that campaign, a third party group wanted to advertise that Steve Driehaus’ vote for OabamaCare was a vote in favor of taxpayer funding of abortions.  Steve Driehaus challenged that statement as a lie and a criminal offense with a complaint before the Ohio Elections Commission.

In response, Susan B. Anthony List challenged the constitutionality of the statute in federal court, and Finney Law Firm client, COAST, joined the suit asserting that it wanted to make similar statements but was “chilled” as a result of the oppressive enforcement scheme.

The District Court and the 6th Circuit found that Plaintiffs did not have standing as they “abstained” while the OEC matter was pending.  That issue ascended to the United States Supreme Court in 2014, resulting in a 9-0 decision in favor of our clients.  But all that Supreme Court decision did was place the matter back before the District Court.

In September of last year, Judge Timothy Black declared the statute unconstitutional and enjoined its further application — a complete win on the merits for the Plaintiffs.  That decision has been on appeal for more than a year to the 6th Circuit, and the December oral argument signals a decision by mid-2016 that, hopefully, will affirm Judge Black’s decision.

So, we have maybe another year of litigation over this issue, but soon the OEC’s control of speech in Ohio will be ended.

Ohio has some incredibly well-written Sunshine laws, laws requiring transparency in open meetings and public records in the conduct of official business.  Indeed, Ohio’s laws are some of the best in the nation.

Unfortunately, the rights enshrined by those laws have been slowly and significantly eroded by a series of court decisions in Ohio, all the way up through the Ohio Supreme Court.

Last week, the Ohio Coalition for Open Government released a study of decisions of the Ohio Supreme Court that analyzed Sunshine Law decisions, and confirmed that the trend is against more openness, and in favor of governments that conceal records and keep meetings secret.

You may read the press release here.  The associated documents are linked in the press release.

To follow the path of COAST litigation can take a good memory and lots of patience.  This blog entry is an update of the “Tweets” litigation from 2011.

In the November of that year, Rob Richardson, Jr. of Cincinnatians for Progress, the backers of the Cincinnati Streetcar, filed a complaint at the Ohio Elections Commission against COAST claiming certain tweets, communications on the social media platform Twitter, violated Ohio Elections Law.  The Complaint claimed the statements were false, which could lead to imprisonment for up to six months under Ohio’s statutory scheme regulating elections speech.

The “Tweets” case was featured in this New York Times story.

COAST first defeated two different Complaints before the OEC and then filed suit in Federal District Court to have the oppressive statute and regulatory regime ruled unconstitutional.

That Federal case has had a circuitous path, with a denial of standing before Judge Michael R. Barrett and the 6th Circuit and a reversal and remand by the U.S. Supreme Court, ultimately sending the case back to the trial court.  Today, Judge Barrett issued another “win” for COAST in that case.  You may read that decision here.

In December of 2013, the Finney Law Firm was retained by Council member Christopher Smitherman and the Smitherman for Council Campaign Committee to learn who had funded hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign advertisements attacking Smitherman and promoting certain democratic candidates for City Council and the Mayor’s office in the November, 2013 election.  We also were retained to pursue legal remedies against the wrongdoers.

Those attacking Smitherman failed to file campaign finance reports disclosing the source of their funds and their campaign expenditures.

Finney Law Firm attorney Curt Hartman has been taking the lead in this important litigation, including document discovery and the deposition of Jonathan White, who ran Cincinnatians for Jobs Now, the Committee that secretly funneled the donations and created the attack ads.  We have learned that all contributions to the committee came from the Laborer’s International Union and its affiliates, run by Rob Richardson, Sr., Smitherman’s  former opponent for the Cincinnati NAACP Presidency, whom he defeated.

Today , the Cincinnati Enquirer had a significant article exploring this litigation and its current status.  Read it here.

This case is moving slowly, predominantly because of delays from the OEC in Complainant’s attempts to pursue discovery.  It is anticipated to continue for at least another year.

We have much to celebrate in the United States of America, and one of the founding documents that have made this country great is the U.S. Constitution.

Congress has set aside September 17 each year to celebrate that document and to reflect on what it means to our Republic.

Unlike many other law firms, one facet of our practice includes constitutional litigation — we explore and examine not just whether government agencies are reading their regulations correctly, but whether they have the right to regulate in a particular are at all.  This approach to the law has taken us to the U.S. Supreme Court three times in 18 months, and given us spectacular wins on behalf of our clients challenging government action.

It is the wisdom of the drafters of the U.S. Constitution that gives us these fundamental rights to challenge — and win against — overbearing government actors, an advantage against big government that does not exist almost anywhere else in the world.

So, indeed take a moment today to celebrate this document that makes much of what we enjoy in America possible.