On August 27, a Washington State Court overturned a fine that had been levied against a Green Party nominee for the state legislature in 2002. Marilou Rickert had been fined $1,000 for saying in her campaign literature that her only opponent, the Democratic incumbent, had voted to close the Mission Creek Youth Camp. Actually her opponent, State Senator Tim Sheldon, had voted not to close the Camp. Washington state law criminalizes “political advertising that contains a false statement of fact about a candidate for public office” if the false statement was made maliciously. The State Court of Appeals held the law to violate the First Amendment. Rickert v State, 32274-9.