News & Commentary

Nov. 7 is rapidly approaching and that means Ohio voters only have a handful of days to decide how they will vote on two critically important Statewide Issues. At its simplest, Issue 2 is a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for adult-use in Ohio, regulating it just as the state does alcohol.

There is a common misconception that people who are incarcerated cannot vote. However, only people who are incarcerated for a felony conviction are unable to vote. Individuals serving probation or parole, convicted of a misdemeanor offense, or awaiting trial remain eligible to vote in Ohio.

The ACLU of Ohio remains ready, willing, and able to work with all members of the General Assembly to find effective solutions. But we urge this committee to reject House Bill 230 for all the reasons mentioned and more.

Passing Issue 24 is a step towards systemic equality that all Ohioans deserve.

It’s time to remove politicians from the map-making process and end gerrymandering in Ohio, once and for all.

Since the reinstatement of Ohio’s capital punishment statute in 1974, the ACLU of Ohio has vigorously supported ending the death penalty once and for all.

House Bill 183 discriminates against the transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming communities, begs serious privacy and administrability concerns, and exacerbates public safety issues that it purports to solve.

The bottom line is that students have a First Amendment right to have access to materials in their schools’ libraries free of viewpoint discrimination.

Picture this: incarcerated Ohioans are counted not as residents of their homes, but as residents of the prisons they inhabit. This inequitable practice, known as prison gerrymandering, occurs during the redistricting process.