The Ohio Coalition To End Qualified Immunity Responds To Attorney General Dave Yost's Rejection Of The Protecting Ohioans' Constitutional Rights Amendment
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 18 AUG 2023
COLUMBUS, OH - AUGUST 18, 2023 - The Ohio Coalition To End Qualified Immunity rejects Attorney General Dave Yost’s decision to not certify the summary of the Protecting Ohioans' Constitutional Rights Amendment. The AG's rejection is built on legally unsound and flawed interpretations, clearly misrepresenting our intentions and the established law.
Addressing the specifics of Attorney General Yost's concerns:
1. On the Issue of Conciseness: The AG's reliance on State ex rel. Hubbell v. Bettman is misplaced. The case referenced dealt with a summary that was approximately 4,900 words compared to the amendment's 4,800 words. In our case, the summary is a concise 600 words, while the amendment is 900 words. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the Medical Right To Refuse amendment summary and The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety amendment summary are nearly identical to the full text of their respective amendments. There is no apples-to-apples comparison here, and the length of our summary is well within reasonable bounds.
2. Potential Confusion: It’s puzzling to see the AG's claim that our summary could be mistaken for the actual proposed amendment. The very nature of a summary is to distill essential points, and we believe potential signers will understand this distinction.
3. Claimed Inaccuracies: We disagree with the AG's interpretations about the defined terms. The distinctions drawn between “any entity” and “entity” and between “anybody corporate or politic...” and “any body corporate or politic...” seem to lean into the territory of nitpicking, rather than addressing substantive issues. Importantly, our language preserves the spirit and intention of the amendment.
4. Confusion About Liability: The differentiation between “employees” and “public employees” in the summary versus the amendment does not lead to any substantive confusion. Our summary adequately conveys the crux of the liability issue.
5. Forum for Action: The summary describes where actions can be brought based on our proposed amendment, capturing the essence of the amendment.
Our coalition worked diligently to present a fair and truthful representation of the proposed amendment in the summary. The continued obstinacy from AG Yost's office suggests a lean towards obstructionism rather than genuine understanding. We remind the AG's office that the purpose of these processes is to further democratic participation, not hinder it.
The Ohio Coalition To End Qualified Immunity remains committed to its mission and will explore all available avenues to ensure Ohioans can vote on this critical amendment. Our fight to end qualified immunity and hold our government accountable when it violates our constitutional rights in Ohio continues.
About The Ohio Coalition To End Qualified Immunity: The Ohio Coalition To End Qualified Immunity is a grassroots organization committed to ending the court-created legal loophole known as qualified immunity in Ohio, ensuring that all citizens have an avenue to seek redress when their constitutional rights are violated.
More information, including the full text of the proposed amendment and how to get involved with the movement to hold our government accountable when it violates our constitutional rights, can be found at oceqi.org
###ENDS###
For media inquiries, contact:
Kyle Pierce
press@oceqi.org
614-715-3104
