News & Commentary

If you are a member of the ACLU of Ohio, you are no doubt used to hearing from us about our work. Perhaps it is no surprise an organization known for protecting the First Amendment often exercises its own right to free speech. Lately, you might notice you are hearing from us even more than usual. The reason can be summed up in two words —“lame duck.” Ohio’s legislature operates on two-year cycles. The current session of the Ohio General Assembly will end in December and a new session will begin in January. Traditionally, the period following November’s general election is called a lame duck session since some members will have been voted out by their constituents. Lots can, and often does, happen during lame duck. With only a handful of weeks left, legislators rush to pass bills that were considered during the previous two years. Lame duck also is a time when controversial legislation gets rammed through while lawmakers, media, lobbyists, and advocates are distracted by the chaotic pace. The ACLU of Ohio feels it is important to notify you of these efforts, so we can all take action to protect civil liberties.

Update - 12/17/2014: Ohio Senate Bill 266 was amended to House Bill 178 and passed unanimously, extending the seclusion and restraint provisions of rule 3301-35-15 to public charter schools.

Another day, another attempt to promote government intrusion into the lives of thousands of women and their doctors. Last week, the Ohio House Health and Aging Committee snuck onto its agenda House Bill 248 (HB 248), often called the “Heartbeat Bill,” which restricts reproductive freedom and promotes poor health care practices and overreaching governance. Thursday morning, the committee rapidly heard testimony on the bill. Later the same afternoon, it was voted out of committee, entirely along party lines. This extremely invasive and controversial bill aims to ban abortions in Ohio once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks. The bill contains no exceptions for survivors of sexual violence or incest. The bill also claims there is an exception to prevent the death or serious harm of the pregnant woman, but this exception still subjects the woman and the physician performing the abortion to government authority and review.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio
May 16, 1967
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Imagine what would happen if people of different walks of life decided that they were done with the insanity of mass incarceration and the War on Drugs. Imagine if people proclaimed that they were tired of: » Criminalizing people unnecessarily. » Tough on crime laws that do nothing to improve safety. » Spending billions on mass incarceration while schools crumble. » Separating children from their parents. » Not meeting the needs of victims of crime. » Using prisons and jails to penalize people who simply need a job or treatment. » Paying into a system that contributes to unemployment and crime. Well, now you don’t have to imagine.

What makes us feel safe in our communities? When you know your neighbors, when youth have connections to positive people, and when residents feel pride in the appearance of their street, this keeps a community safe. When men armed with assault rifles and flash grenades spill out of an armored personnel carrier in the middle of the night to break down a door searching for drugs, this has the opposite effect. Security does not come from more weapons, night vision goggles, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Yet this has been the federal approach to enhancing community safety for years. Since 1997, the Defense Logistics Agency has funneled $5.1 billion of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies through the federal 1033 program. This equipment has fueled a nationwide trend in aggressive police practices. Rather than confronting barricade or hostage situations, police SWAT teams now frequently serve search warrants, raiding homes looking for drugs.