Hamilton County Judicial Candidate Reprimanded for False Statements
The Ohio Supreme Court today affirmed a public reprimand and $1,000 fine levied against a Hamilton County judicial candidate for disseminating false information about her opponent in the 2020 Republican primary election.
The Supreme Court rejected Karen Falter’s challenge to a five-judge panel’s ruling that she violated the rules governing judicial campaigning when she sent a mailer to 202 Republican voters claiming her opponent moved to Hamilton County in 2017 to receive a judicial appointment from the then governor, John Kasich.
In a per curiamopinion, the Court majority stated that Falter violated the rule prohibiting candidates from disseminating campaign material about an opponent either knowing it was false or in reckless disregard of whether or not it is false.