Senate candidate’s campaign literature charge dismissed

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - A misdemeanor charge related to campaign literature has been dismissed against a recent Michigan Senate candidate.

The Ann Arbor News reports that Ann Arbor District Judge Elizabeth Hines issued an opinion Thursday that the state law under which Anuja Rajendra was charged with falsely representing herself as an incumbent is an unconstitutional infringement of free speech.

Rajendra, an Ann Arbor businesswoman, lost a four-way Democratic primary race in August.

She was defended by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.

Rajendra said after Thursday’s hearing that “words cannot describe the trauma of being thrown into the criminal justice system when you did nothing wrong.”

The Washtenaw County prosecutor’s office says it hasn’t decided yet whether it will try to appeal Hines’ decision.

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Information from: The Ann Arbor News, http://www.mlive.com/ann-arbor