• by Ray Schultz , November 24, 2023

An unlikely criminal case over labeling of political ads has gone to trial in New Hampshire. 

Debra A. Paul, publisher of the Londonderry Times, was arrested in August 2022 and charged with six misdemeanor counts for publishing political advertisements that did not comply with State election laws.   

In the one-day trial on Wednesday, Paul’s lawyers argued that she never intended to break the law and that the prosecution didn’t prove that she did so knowingly, according to inDepthNg.org.  

However, prosecutors argued that ignorance of the law is no excuse.  

New Hampshire’s RSA 664:16, Identification of Political Advertising, requires that political ads be identified as such with appropriate language either at the beginning or end of the advertisement. 

Each charge carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.  

The news is unnerving given that the law criminalizes what would normally be deemed a civil matter. It has left observers wondering if there was a political intent to the charges. 

Judge Kerry Steckowych had not yet issued a verdict at deadline.