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.
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