Lying is bad. Lying politicians are bad. But do you know what’s worse? The thought of giving bureaucrats the power to determine who is lying, and how they should be punished.

An Ohio appeals court agrees. On Wednesday, it struck down a law that would have prosecuted politicians who lie in their campaign ads.

“The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday decided an Ohio law prohibiting campaign lies violates the First Amendment right to free speech,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. “The court cited a U.S. Supreme Court precedent that toppled the Stolen Valor Act, a federal law that banned false claims about winning the Congressional Medal of Honor.”

The ruling reads, “Political speech is at the core of First Amendment protections. Even false speech receives some constitutional protection.”

Most people will find that statement distasteful. And it is. But what’s the alternative? The next passage in that Plain Dealer report explains that.

“Ohio’s law made it illegal to spread false statements designed to promote the election, nomination or defeat of a candidate,” the newspaper said. “It set up a commission to rule whether statements were true. Decisions of that commission could be appealed to state court. The maximum penalty for violations of Ohio’s law was six months in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.”

And that’s the problem. If it’s a simple question of fact, there wouldn’t need to be a commission. But we’re talking about something else here – truth. And that can be a little trickier.

Take the case that resulted in the ruling.

“The case arose when an anti-abortion group called the Susan B. Anthony List wanted to erect a billboard in the Cincinnati area during the 2010 election cycle that claimed the Affordable Care Act allows taxpayer-funded abortions,” the Plain Dealer reported. “The officeholder the group targeted – former Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus – said that statement was false because the law stipulated no federal funds could be spent to pay for abortions.”

Well, that’s true. But it’s also true that the ACA subsidizes “abortion-inclusive” insurance plans. So factually, the claim is correct. And not. It’s a muddle.

That’s why claims of truth shouldn’t be judged by any unelected committee. There’s simply no way something like the Ohio Elections Commission wouldn’t become politicized.

There are already remedies in place for candidates who have been lied about. They can take the matter to civil court. Libel is still against the law.

The Supreme Court has already weighed in on this dispute, when it ruled in 2014 that the case could proceed.

“The threatened proceedings are of particular concern because of the burden they impose on electoral speech,” said the ruling, authored by Justice Clarence Thomas. “Moreover, the target of a complaint may be forced to divert significant time and resources to hire legal counsel and respond to discovery requests in the crucial days before an election.”

He’s right. Charges of lying could be used to silence opponents.

Lying is bad. But asking a governmental committee to decide who is lying is worse.