Alabama Democratic Senate candidate Jones publishes misleading ad against Moore

Democratic candidate for the Alabama senate seat, Doug Jones, had his campaign release a scathing video ad attack on his embattled opponent Roy Moore.

The video essentially highlights the fact that Moore has so far been easy on sex offenders. Moore has already shot back with a statement that the video ad “blatantly misrepresents the facts and my judicial record.”

Here are the facts:

The video cites a 2014 case where Judge Roy Moore disagreed on a previous ruling. In his dissent he argued that in the defendant’s case, the facts “would make the proposed cross-examination relevant to show that the victims had possibly fabricated the charges against Tate. I believe that we should resolve this material question of first impression.”

Jones’s campaign has clearly taken this out of context and packaged it in a way that makes voters think Moore did a bad thing.

Experts disagree with the claims made in the video.

According to at least two legal experts, Moore’s dissent was reasonable within in the context of the case.

In two other cases referred to in the video ad from Jones’s campaign, Moore’s “disturbing conduct” are alluded to.

In one case, Moore and two other judges dissented, while in the third, Moore was the only one.

Although the ad cites the dissent in the first case from 2014, it misleads by not clearly stating what Moore actually disagreed with. To a viewer with no background on the story, it appears as if Moore disagreed with the conviction itself, not with a particular point of law.

Here’s the video, funded and approved by Doug Jones. Judge for yourself.

https://youtu.be/x52Js6Chy_Y

Read the full report on Politifact