North Cook News

Critics say state Rep. Denyse Wang Stoneback (D-Skokie) wants to silence free speech protected for all people by the U.S. Constitution. 

The bill in contention is HB5850 which was introduced by Stoneback. 

"Illinois State Rep. Denyse Wang Stoneback has introduced HB5850 which would criminalize certain speech directed at political campaigns," the Edgar County Watchdogs stated. "The bill prescribes criminal and civil penalties for certain election speech and adds speech requirements for political campaigns. Let’s hope this bill goes nowhere."

Also known as the Truth In Politics Act, the Edgar County Watchdogs said that those found guilty of a violation can be charged with a class A criminal misdemeanor or be subject to civil litigation. 

“No person shall knowingly or recklessly make, publish, broadcast, or circulate or cause to be made, published, broadcast, or circulated in any letter, circular, advertisement, poster, or other communication any false or misleading statement designed to affect the vote on any public question submitted to the electors at any election or relating to any candidate for election to public office,” the draft bill says.

The group questioned why there is a need to have "another law providing for civil action in defamation cases," and argued that the Supreme Court has "already provided enough direction on that subject."

Stoneback said disinformation prompted her to sponsor the bill. “All of this disinformation and hateful language is really resulting in disgusted and frustrated voters, that I think we’ve all seen, and it’s causing the public to become distrustful of government and politics in general,” Stoneback told WFIR. “This is a dangerous thing for our democracy.” 

It is Stoneback's final weeks in the House. In the Democratic primary, she was defeated by Kevin Olickal, who then defeated the Republican candidate in the general election to take her seat in the chamber.

State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) joined in on the criticism. “Make no mistake, HB5850 is a direct attack on the right to free speech,” Plummer said in a press release, according to Metro East Sun. “The voters have the ultimate authority to hold politicians accountable for what they say and do, exactly as it should be. Free and open elections are the foundation of our democracy. It is truly frightening that anyone would support the idea of empowering bureaucrats to decide to only allow speech they agree with. Worse yet, this bill wouldn’t just apply to candidates, it would also go after citizens for speaking their minds. Offending overly sensitive people is the lesser of two evils compared to violating the constitutional rights of Illinoisans. The freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our nation and I will always be vigilant in defending it.”