While marriage equality in Ohio is years away, Mike Brickner, ACLU of Ohio communications director, explains that employment and housing protections may be close at hand.

Over the past few weeks, many activists have watched with interest as Maine, Iowa and Vermont have affirmed that same-sex couples should have the same rights to marriage as heterosexual couples. In other states, such as New York and New Hampshire, legislatures are considering similar measures that may become law soon.

The spotlight this week shifted to the decision by the California Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8, narrowly passed by voters last November. The state constitutional amendment banned same-sex marriage in California after it had been declared legal by the state Supreme Court in May 2008. However, the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who married before Proposition 8 passed are permitted to remain legally married.

The decisions to ban same-sex marriage in California and extend equal marriage rights in other states have energized many activists across the country, including in Ohio. Tens of thousands of advocates nationwide have gathered over the past several months to protest or celebrate these recent decisions.

More and more gay and lesbian Americans are clamoring for equality and wondering just how much longer it will be until all states extend full rights to all people.

For many in the Buckeye State, marriage equality may seem like a distant fantasy — something maybe their great grandkids will see, but not something that will happen in their lifetime. Just five years ago Ohio passed the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits recognition of same-sex marriages in the state. Also in 2004, Ohioans passed a constitutional amendment that forbids same-sex marriage.

Given these laws, it seems unlikely that Ohio will extend marriage equality to all its residents anytime soon.  However, there is still important work to be done today to move the state in the direction of equality. Ohio lacks even the most basic protections to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Currently, the Ohio House is considering House Bill 176, the Equal Housing and Employment Act. It would prohibit employers and housing officials from discriminating against someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This bill would not grant special rights to these groups — it would ensure they are treated the same way any other Ohioan expects to be treated by a boss or landlord.

The bill would expand the 2007 executive order of Gov. Ted Strickland that protects state employees from discrimination to include private employees as well.

While marriage equality can often be a controversial subject for many Americans for a variety of reasons, most people are hard-pressed to justify firing a person simply because of who he or she dates in their personal life.  Recent polling suggests that nearly three-quarters of Ohioans believe that no one should be fired from their job or forced from housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Leading Ohio businesses have also taken a stand against employment discrimination. Companies such as Big Lots, Abercrombie & Fitch, KeyCorp and Goodyear Tire & Rubber have all adopted non-discrimination policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

While it is encouraging that these companies have taken the lead in ensuring equality for all their employees, not all Ohioans are fortunate enough to work for a company that has taken this step. With so many businesses that stress fairness for LGBT employees, Ohio’s lack of protections could impede their ability to attract progressive corporations in the future.

By recognizing every person’s basic right to fair housing and employment, Ohio would take a momentous step forward towards extending full rights to all.

Few could have imagined after the heartbreaking losses in 2004 that our state would consider adding any protections for gays and lesbians just five short years later. While marriage equality will be an uphill battle in Ohio, providing these basic protections is critical in establishing that all people are entitled to the same rights provided by the Constitution.

Lima police may be slowed down following up on anaonymous tips regarding people using drugs in the city.

A new system is available for residents worried about drug use in their neighborhoods.

[…]

Mike Brickner, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said there are a couple of issues with this e-mail system.

“A lot of times tips are faulty and unsubstantiated,” Brickner said. “It creates more work for the police because they have to investigate each claim and it could take away from real police work.”

Brickner also mentioned the damage a false claim could have to someone’s reputation.

“What happens to the list of the names and tips if there is no police follow-up - they could be used for something bad,” he said. “That person’s name would be associated with bad behavior.”

The Dispatch reports on the use of laws that supposedly prohibit people from participating in gang activites, but often result in racial profiling.

Three tattooed dots on a man’s hand that officers noted six years ago during a routine booking for a gun charge tipped off Columbus police to another potential investigation.

[…]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio thinks that it unfairly skews enforcement toward urban areas, education director Shakyra Diaz said. The risk for guilt by association is great and could land innocent people on watch lists, she said.

To establish a person as an active gang member, police use criteria such as dress, hangouts, associates and the person’s own admissions.

ACLU of Ohio Communications Director Mike Brickner lays out some of the troubling statistics behind the federal government’s E-Verify program and why Ohio should not adopt the system.

Thank you to the Hamilton JournalNews for presenting some reasonable concerns over recently introduced legislation that would require Ohio employers to use the federal government’s E-Verify system to confirm an employee is authorized to work (“New immigration bill troubling,” May 19).

If this system were implemented in Ohio, it could lead to thousands of citizens and legal residents unable to work. The federal E-Verify system utilizes data provided by the Social Security Administration to confirm the identities of workers and their ability to work in the United States.

However, in its own report, the SSA found that more than 70 percent of the “no-matches” in their database would be for people who were native-born Americans, not undocumented immigrants. “No-matches” can occur because of a clerical error, misspelling, change in name, or the common use of multiple surnames.

A report by the Department of Homeland Security estimates that more than 3.9 million lawful workers nationally would have a “no-match.” This would mean that these people would not be permitted to work unless they could prove that the information was wrong, which could take weeks or months.

Given these numbers, the vast majority of people who may be adversely affected by implementing the E-Verify system would be legal workers whose information is simply inaccurate or incomplete. The cost to businesses for implementing this system and having to suspend or terminate employees whose information does not match the database could be astronomical.

Investing in a system that has been proven faulty and riddled with errors simply does not make sense and will only cost workers and employers time and resources.

Mike Brickner

Communications director

American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio

ACLU of Ohio Assiciate Director points out the inherent problems in Columbus’ policy of only allowing non-profit organizations to solicit for money on the streets.

While I’m hardly surprised, I am curious about the legal gymnastics employed by the City of Columbus regarding its anti-panhandling & charitable solicitation laws (“Homeless need a permit to solicit,” May 14).

The city’s legal department obviously worked overtime to devise a system to keep pesky panhandlers out of intersections, while allowing groups such as Charity Newsies and the Columbus Division of Fire access to those exact locations for the same purpose.

Indeed, city law forbids anyone from obstructing vehicular traffic in order to ask for money. Unless, as another section of city law explains, one is licensed to do so. How to get such a license? The law explains the only parties that can apply for licenses are nonprofit organizations—and not just any nonprofit, but only those that can pony up $1 million in liability insurance.

So, only the most well-established nonprofits are permitted to block traffic and put safety at risk (something I’ve personally witnessed several times), while the lowliest panhandlers are de facto treated as dangerous and intimidating, as acknowledged by the police spokesperson quoted.

In other words, if City Hall likes you, you have full free speech rights in Columbus. If City Hall does not like you, you will be further marginalized and subject to criminal punishment.

Instead of creatively drafting Columbus laws to favor some over others, the City’s time would be better spent researching the First Amendment and why it forbids government from treating people engaged in identical speech in such different ways.

Gary Daniels
Associate Director, ACLU of Ohio

The state has announced that it will only slightly modify the execution procedures that were declared unconstitutional by Judge James Burge last year.

If convicted killer Daniel Wilson is executed as scheduled on June 3, it will be under a new set of protocols that are designed to ensure condemned inmates have been rendered unconscious by a sedative before two other fatal — and potentially painful — drugs are administered.

The new procedures now require the warden or another member of the execution team to check whether a condemned inmate is unconscious by calling his name, shaking his shoulder and pinching his arm or through the use of another “noxious stimulus” before the rest of the lethal three-drug cocktail used by the state in executions is administered.

The old protocol contained no such safeguards against an inmate remaining conscious.

A sensible editorial from the Dispatch on the need for comprehensive sex education.

Teens should be taught that abstinence will prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. But they also need comprehensive instruction about how to cope wisely with sexual issues if they abandon abstinence.

That’s why President Barack Obama’s budget plan shifts federal funding away from abstinence-only programs in favor of efforts that have demonstrated their effectiveness and focus on teen-pregnancy prevention.

Of about $170 million to be targeted for these programs, about 75 percent of the funding would support those that research shows have reduced teen pregnancy and have caused teens to delay sex and to increase use of contraceptives. The other 25 percent would be directed to innovative programs. These, according to Melody Barnes, director of a White House domestic-policy team, could include some abstinence-only courses, but only if they have proved to be effective.

The Hamilton Journal News lists a few more reasons why the recently introduced Ohio bill that would require E-Verify is ill-advised.

Ohio apparently will become the next state to consider legislation to require employers to verify the citizenship of prospective employees. Similar efforts have been established or are proposed in Oklahoma, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Arizona, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah, according to the National Immigration Law Center.

Ohio’s version of the law — dubbed the “Ohio Job Integrity Preservation Act” — was to be introduced this week by state Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, and was announced last week in a press conference that included Combs and Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones. The bill is the latest volley in the high-profile campaign waged by Jones — and Combs, to a lesser extent — against illegal immigration.

The Blade points out the problems with President Obama’s recent decision to bar the release of photos depicting torture of detainees at American facilities.

WE UNDERSTAND the political calculus, but President Obama is wrong to try to block release of photographs of the abuse of foreign detainees by U.S. soldiers.

Clearly, Mr. Obama has chosen to disregard the principle of the matter in changing his mind aboutbarring the court-ordered release of the photos, which reportedly are less graphic and disturbing than those from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The principle, of course, is that the truth about what has been done officially in this nation’s name, and by whom, is more important than the uncomfortable feeling the public here and abroad naturally gets from such images.

The Vindy makes a case that Ohio election reform is best served with bi-partisan cooperation between members of the OGA and Secretary of State Brunner.

Without the involvement of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, election reform coming out of the General Assembly will lack the credibility voters have been demanding since the controversial 2004 presidential election.

It’s more than just giving the state’s chief elections officer a place at the table at which the new rules, regulations and procedures are being developed. Brunner has something to offer that legislators do not have: The input of the men and women working in the boards of elections, county commissioners who pay for elections, voting rights activists and state even lawmakers.

Last year, over a period of about six months, there were statewide summits and regional conferences that delved into the shortcomings in Ohio’s system spotlighted in 2004. The sessions also focused on ways to increase voter participation, protect the sanctity of the ballot and guarantee the most accurate vote count.

Columbus officials seem unaware that the First Amendment prevents them from giving preferential treatment to well-established charities to solicit donations, while homeless are arrested for doing the same thing.

If the Charity Newsies are allowed to get a permit to solicit for money in the streets, then maybe the homeless population should have the opportunity to get one too. It may have saved one man a lot of headaches if he had, considering the ticket he got Tuesday from the Columbus police for asking folks for money while in the roadway.

“The officer issued him a warning the day before (about not being allowed to solicit),” said Sgt. Joseph Curmode of the Columbus Division of Police. “The next day he was back and he was charged with soliciting in the roadway and pedestrian in the roadway.”

The man, who was not identified, was ticketed at the Sinclair Road/I-71 ramp shortly before noon Tuesday by a CPD motorcycle cop. Curmode could not verify if the ticketed man was homeless, but he did say these types of charges are often associated with homelessness.

Opponents to the death penalty are concerned that EMTs who perform executions in Ohio are not well-trained enough to be conducting these procedures, which could increase the liklihood of future problems.

When the state carries out a death sentence, intermediate-level emergency medical technicians deliver the fatal drugs to condemned prisoners.

But a Columbus surgeon and longtime opponent of capital punishment contends that these technicians are not allowed to administer the drugs.

The procedure state officials follow during executions states that the lethal drugs should be given by a “person qualified under Ohio law to administer medications.”

But under state law, intermediate EMTs are not authorized to work with these drugs.

“The EMTs are not trained to give these drugs and, in my opinion, there’s no assurance they can do it properly,” said Dr. Jonathan Groner, trauma medical director at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

More fallout from the Mansfield drug case that led to a major investigation on how drug stings are conducted throughout the state and the use of informants in these cases.

The federal justice system will determine the guilt or innocence of Lee Lucas, the federal drug agent indicted last week on 18 criminal counts involving his alleged failure to monitor a dishonest informant.

But the indictment of Lucas, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, is an important step toward justice obscured for years by false drug charges against 17 people from the Mansfield area — 12 of whom were convicted and sent to prison.

Spurred by the stories of Plain Dealer reporter John Caniglia, this newspaper has long demanded a thorough review of Lucas and his mendacious informant, Jerrell Bray. A convicted killer serving a 15-year prison sentence, Bray admitted he falsely accused innocent people of drug dealing. He has maintained Lucas also was involved in the phony drug stings.

Some elected officials in southwestern Ohio are attempting to institute e-verify in Ohio, a flawed federal program that relies on data provided by the Social Security Administraation that is often incomplete or inaccurate.

All Ohio employers would be required to use a federally-run online system to verify whether new hires are eligible to work in the United States, according to a proposed bill announced today.

[…]

Other critics include the American Civil Liberties Union, labor unions and advocates for immigrants. Some question the accuracy of the information available through E-Verify.

“We’re afraid that people who should be able to legally work in the U.S. will be caught in the system because of an error,” said Mike Brickner, spokesman for the ACLU of Ohio.

Another fear, Brickner said, is that people with ethnic-sounding names could be targeted.

Strong words from the Ironton Tribune about the need to investigate the reported use of torture by the U.S. government.

Americans deserve the five “Ws” when it comes to the Central Intelligence Agency — and ultimately our nation’s — use of torture tactics.

We must know “who” knew about this and “what” they know. “When” did they know it. “Why” was this allowed to continue, despite clearly violating international treaties and “where” is the accountability?

More and more information continues to surface about the tactics our government used against prisoners. Democrats want to deflect all the blame to the then-Republican led presidential administration.

No one wants to admit exactly what was known and who knew it.

American United for the Separation of Church and State issued a letter to officials at Southeastern High School in Ross County urging them to suspend the use of prayer during graduation.

Southeastern Local Schools has received notice from a Washington group that it would be a violation of the Establishment Clause to include a prayer at the graduation ceremony.

[…]

The ACLU of Ohio appears to agree with the AU’s assertions in its letter to Southeastern. In its brochure “Students! Know Your Rights” it states student-led prayer is not acceptable at graduation and schools are permitted, and should, censor student speeches to prohibit religious talk. The ACLU also uses its interpretation of U.S. Supreme Court rulings to support its stance.

At Unioto High School, senior class adviser Nancy Shaw said the school doesn’t have an organized prayer at graduation, but student’s are not prohibited from including religious speak in their speeches.

It appears as though Columbus is abandoning its misguided plans to install more surveillance cameras around the city.

Those surveillance cameras that were coming to a Columbus neighborhood near you won’t arrive any time soon.

The city doesn’t have the money to buy them, said Joel Taylor, its finance and management director.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman pitched neighborhood cameras in 2007 and the city’s capital plan had included $1.55 million for them, said Ken Paul, aide to City Councilman Andrew J. Ginther, who leads the council’s safety committee.

Last year, the council approved $243,827 to buy two surveillance camera platforms for crowd control at large festivals and other events.

Local sports writer Ryan Ernst examines whether high school sports teams should have organized prayer as part of their program.

They do it the same way every Friday night.

After the football players go through the postgame handshake line with the opposing team, one will yell, “Circle up!” Players and coaches hold hands and form a large ring that takes up a third of the field. Then they pray.

[…]

“If you have any kind of position in a public school, you must remain neutral,” said Gary Daniels, the associate director for ACLU Ohio. “In that position, you’re not acting as an individual, you’re acting as an instrument of the state.”

ACLU Ohio tackled its most high-profile case in 1999, filing a lawsuit against the London City School District. In that case, which was settled out of court, London High School head football coach David Daubenmire admitted to leading the football team in postgame prayer, passing out scripture passages to players, allowing ministers to lead team prayers and using Bible stories in team meetings.

Daniels said although most cases don’t go as far as the London case, which was scheduled to be heard in federal court, his organization knows that plenty like it exist.

“We get more complaints than just the ones that go to court,” he said. “But the problem is, you can have people complain about it, but oftentimes in situations like this, people are very hesitant to step forward. They don’t want to be outcasts in their community or school.”

More and more legislators are joining the call for fair and reasonable sentencing guidelines for drug offenders.

President Barack Obama wants to stop punishing crack cocaine offenders more harshly than those caught with powder cocaine.

It’s a notion that has had growing support among judges and lawmakers, but is only now being championed by the White House.

In 1986, when the use of crack cocaine was taking off, Congress set mandatory sentences of at least five years in prison for convictions with 5 or more grams of crack. It takes getting caught with 100 times as much powder cocaine — 500 grams — to run into the same five-year sentence.

Celebration is in the air as Cleveland’s domestic partner registry becomes a reality.

A festive atmosphere built through the day at Cleveland City Hall on Thursday as a steady stream of couples used the first chance to register as domestic partners. The registry opened to both opposite- and same-sex couples, but a noontime rally on the City Hall steps made it clear the day carried particular meaning for the gay and lesbian community.

“It’s about protection,” said Angel Hill, 40, who registered with her female partner Ovettajoi Dixon, 34. “We want to protect each other, just as a heterosexual couple would. And I completely love her.”

“Today Cleveland has joined with a movement,” said rally organizer Sue Doerfer, executive director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Greater Cleveland. “Equality is spreading much more quickly than the swine flu.”

An Elyria resident speaks out about an important piece of legislation that would ban corporal punishment in our schools.

To the Editor: Parents are entrusted with protecting their children from things that may damage their growth and development. When parents select a form of discipline they wish to use, it often comes after carefully weighing what is best for their child and whether the punishment adheres to their individual beliefs. Despite the personal nature of this decision, Ohio allows some schools to continue to use corporal punishment even if the parents oppose it.

With so many effective disciplinary methods at the disposal of educators, there is simply no compelling reason to continue to use corporal punishment. Luckily, there is House Bill 26, a bipartisan bill pending in the Ohio General Assembly that would prohibit spanking in schools.

Many parents object to corporal punishment and go to great lengths to ensure their child is not exposed to any violence. Allowing schools to administer corporal punishment, even if the parents do not support this disciplinary technique, erodes the parents’ authority and possibly places the child in a negative situation. Banning corporal punishment in all schools will ensure parents retain their ability to make decisions for their children’s welfare and development.

More officials are needed to support this important legislation. Please take a few minutes and write or call Rep. Joseph Koziura and tell him to support House Bill 26.

While no one doubts teachers need to maintain control of their classrooms if students are to learn and progress, a parent’s authority to decide what types of punishment are appropriate for their child must be honored by the schools.

Amber Mann, Elyria

The ACLU of Ohio applauds the legalization of same-sex marriage in Maine.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Maine on Wednesday as Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill less than an hour after the state legislature approved it.

“I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage,” said Baldacci, a Democrat.