Panel passes election ethics bill

Friday, May 9, 2003 | 9:26 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A Senate panel narrowly approved a bill Thursday to repeal the law that puts the state in the position of being a "truth squad" in deciding whether a political candidate lied about his opponent during an election campaign.

By a 4-3 vote, the Senate Government Affairs Committee approved Assembly Bill 127 to eliminate the authority of the state Ethics Commission to rule whether a political candidate made a false statement and whether to impose a fine.

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, said this "gets into the realm of the First Amendment and political speech."

But Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, argued that a political candidate, faced with a lie, has no recourse during the last month of an election.

"Lots of people think it's fun and games to accuse a candidate of something like incest and beating your wife," Raggio said.

Without the ethics commission, he argued, "There is no practical remedy."

Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, was fined $5,000 in 1998 by the commission for his statements about an opponent in a campaign. He has not paid the fine and has joined with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Nevada Press Association and others in suing the commission, claiming the law is a violation of free speech.

That suit is still pending.