The Susan B. Anthony List is pleased that the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a defeated Democratic congressman's lawsuit as he tries to squelch the pro-life organization's free-speech rights.
Former Ohio Representative Steve Driehaus's defamation suit against the Susan B. Anthony List alleges that the pro-life group's billboard campaign that educated constituents about his vote in favor of taxpayer funding for abortion, which is included in the healthcare bill, cost him his job, which resulted in a "loss of livelihood" (see earlier story).
In August, U.S. District Judge Timothy Black refused to dismiss the case and prepared to allow it to go to trial. Now, SBA List executive director Emily Buchanan says her organization is pleased that the Sixth Circuit has taken the case away from Judge Black, an Obama appointee.
Emily Buchanan (SBA List)"We were expecting that the discovery and trial was going to be a long process, very taxing on both our time and resources," the pro-lifer notes. "Judge Black, as we discovered, was a former director of Cincinnati Planned Parenthood, and that is certainly not a court that we were looking forward to being in."
The SBA List hopes to make progress in its challenge to Ohio's False Statement Law, which empowers state officials to enforce stiff fines -- even prison time -- for criticism of candidates they deem to be "false."
"That had already been moved to the Sixth Circuit, and so we are going to look into having the two cases joined back together," Buchanan reports.
She believes the appeals court will follow previous rulings that protect First Amendment rights and ultimately end the defamation case against the SBA List.
Contact: Chad Groening
Source: OneNewsNow
