Appeals panel blocks law's use in NC campaign ad prosecution

A federal appeals court has blocked a local North Carolina district attorney from prosecuting state Attorney General Josh Stein or anyone else for his 2020 campaign ad through a criminal libel law. The majority on a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the request by Stein’s campaign committee to prevent enforcement of the law while it seeks to have it declared unconstitutional. A trial judge declined to issue an injunction. The decision came a day after after a Wake County grand jury formally asked the district attorney’s office to submit an indictment. The jurors identified Stein and two advisers as possible indictment subjects.