News & Commentary

November 23, 2015 marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year old boy shot and killed by Cleveland police while playing in a park near his home. His family and local activists organized several events over the weekend to celebrate his life and to draw attention to the grand jury investigation overseen by Prosecutor McGinty. Vigil Held at Site of Shooting Family members of Tamir, including his Mother and cousin, gathered with the community on Saturday, November 22, 2015 at the Cudell Recreation Center, where Tamir Rice was shot by police Officer Timothy Loehmann one year ago. Concerned members of the community met to honor Tamir’s life and to demand accountability from Officer Loehmann. A group of young children, surrounded by stuffed animals and small presents for Tamir’s memorial, faced members of the community who released 12 doves into the sky, one for each year of Tamir’s life. During this time, attendees observed a moment of silence. Everyone in attendance extended their deepest sympathies to Samaria Rice, Tamir’s mother, on the 1-year anniversary of her child’s death. The message of the vigil was clear: stop killing our children. 200,000 Signatures Delivered to McGinty On Sunday, November 23, 2015, members of the community marched to Prosecutor McGinty’s office in a peaceful demonstration to deliver 200,000 signatures, with names from all over the country, in a petition organized by Color of Change, Change.org, and Showing Up for Racial Justice. The petition calls for McGinty to step down and to be replaced by a special prosecutor.

With early voting now underway in Ohio, the potential that marijuana may be legalized remains the hottest political topic in our state. With Colorado reporting sales of $100 million in just the last month, it’s ensured that legalization will remain on peoples’ minds here and everywhere else. Seemingly lost among the debate is a related effort by Responsible Ohio, the group behind Issue 3. It’s known as the Fresh Start Act.  The idea is this: if Ohio voters approve Issue 3 then the Fresh Start Act will allow those who ran afoul of various marijuana laws to petition to have their records expunged. A successful expungement essentially means life continues as if the offense never occurred, at least in the eyes of the court.

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If you live in Ohio and are inclined to follow political news and developments, you are already aware voters will be asked in November whether or not they favor legalizing marijuana in Ohio. What you probably do not know is Toledo voters have a similar issue on their citywide ballot.  With early voting, they are already casting their ballots prior to the city’s September 15 election day. What’s Issue One in Toledo? Unlike the statewide ballot initiative, Toledo’s proposed statute does not seek to legalize marijuana. Even with the approval of Toledo voters, that would be a losing battle because state law trumps local governments in this regard. Instead, Issue One in Toledo would decriminalize marijuana and make other common sense changes to that city’s drug laws. Now, if you are fairly knowledgeable about this issue, you already know state legislators, to their credit, decriminalized marijuana throughout Ohio decades ago. However, because Ohio is a “home rule” state, local governments are free to pass and enforce certain categories of laws on their own so long as they do not conflict with state law. This has resulted in slightly different marijuana laws in and around Ohio depending on where you are. For instance, being caught with even small amounts of marijuana in Medina means a first-degree misdemeanor and a mandatory three days in jail for those convicted.

Photograph courtesy of Lig Ynnek, Creative Commons

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Photograph courtesy of Rachel Woods