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Article published Mar 25, 2005
Lawmakers should refrain from outlawing ugly political
tactics
Vicious personal attacks during political campaigns
are a genuine problem, but criminalizing extreme politics is not a beneficial
solution to that problem.It's upsetting to every concerned citizen when a
political candidate is subjected to unfounded rumors or even outright lies about
his life or character. For that candidate and his or her family, it can be
devastating.That's why state Sen. Dick Elliott, D-North Myrtle Beach, has
introduced his bill. It would subject someone who maliciously slanders a
political candidate to criminal prosecution.If someone spreads false information
about a political candidate, and he either knows the information is false or he
shows "reckless disregard" for whether the information is false, he could be
sent to prison for five years and fined $5,000.It's hard to be sympathetic
toward those who would ruin a candidate's career and reputation with information
they knew was false or didn't care was untrue, but this bill would have a
harmful effect on political discourse.Politicians could use the bill to strike
out at political enemies, threatening them with prosecution to intimidate them,
to make them back down from charges that might be true and should be aired
before voters.Others who learn about misdeeds by politicians might keep quiet
about it, afraid they could be prosecuted if they speak out and can't prove
their charges in court.Elliott complains that suing someone for libel or slander
isn't good enough because the law holds public officials to a higher standard
when proving such causes of action.But there's a reason for that. The law seeks
to encourage a broad debate about the conduct of public officials. Our laws are
designed to encourage citizens to discuss the performance of public officials.
This law would intimidate them away from such discussions.The better solution to
this problem would be a commitment from voters not to reward such ugly campaign
tactics at the polls. But the truth is that these kinds of lies and distortions
are not new. They have been a feature of politics since the dawn of
democracy.Treating dirty campaigners as criminals is likely only to make the
liars more careful about hiding their identities while it deters others from
entering the political discourse. Lawmakers should reject the bill.