Opinion contributor

It wasn't just the federal indictment of a former president. Smith already did that in June with the indictment of Donald Trump on charges that he mishandled classified documents.

No, Smith and his team have made history in the worst wayby attempting to fully criminalize disinformation by seeking the incarceration for a politician on false claims made during and after an election.

As expected, Smith's charges were met with a level of ecstasy that bordered on the indecent. Former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal, who served under President Barack Obama, declared that the indictment "is up there with Dred Scott, it is up there with Brown v. Board of Education."

Yes, this indictment was compared to an opinion ending segregation in the United States.

The hatred for Trump is so all-encompassing that legal experts on the political left have ignored the chilling implications of this indictment. This complaint is based largely on statements that are protected under the First Amendment. It would eviscerate free speech and could allow the government to arrest those who are accused of spreading disinformation in elections.

Supreme Court has ruled on election-related lies

In the 2012 United States v. Alvarez decision, the Supreme Court held 6-3 that it is unconstitutional to criminalize lies in a case involving a politician who lied about military decorations.

The court warned such criminalization "would give government a broad censorial power unprecedented in...

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