Civil Rights
Ohio Fairness Act fills hearing room with advocates, business groups
It wasn’t the many hordes of people that crowded into a Statehouse hearing room that got people’s attention on Tuesday. It wasn’t even the more than 250 testimonies filed on the issue at hand. It was the 11-year-girl bending the microphone so she could reach it, telling her story of being bullied by kids and […]
Delaying the death penalty, tracking johns, and farmer bankruptcies
Each day in our newsletter, we are highlighting stories and commentary from other media big and small throughout Ohio and the nation. If you’d like to get this feature directly to your inbox, please sign up for our newsletter here. Catching Our Eye: Death delayed. Nick Swartsell is reporting in the Cleveland Scene, “Ohio delays three more executions.””Ohio […]
Conversion therapy is a discredited practice. Ohio hired its advocate as an expert witness.
The Ohio Department of Health hired a conversion therapy advocate to serve as its expert witness in a civil rights lawsuit filed against the state, despite the medical world’s rejection of the practice. ODH lawyers retained Dr. Quentin Van Meter, a pediatric endocrinologist from Georgia, at rates reaching $450 per hour, to support the state’s […]
Criminal justice reform group releases video with wide spectrum of supporters
The Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ) on Wednesday released a new video of key Ohio stakeholders from the state legislature, law enforcement, and advocacy and policy organizations urging support for criminal justice reform via Senate Bill 3. The video features Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof, Senate Bill 3 sponsor state Sen. John Eklund, Ohio […]
Musician sings of struggles as lawmakers highlight bills that would help black families
The story sung by Paisha Thomas inside the Ohio Statehouse atrium tells of a hard-working mother. She has three kids, and is stuck picking up extra shifts on Fridays to make up for the time spent raising them. She weighs the cost and makes the choice, is it the chicken or the rent? As the […]
The future of the purge, the voucher lawsuit, and free speech in Ohio
Each day in our newsletter, we are highlighting stories and commentary from other media big and small throughout Ohio and the nation. If you’d like to get this feature directly to your inbox, please sign up for our newsletter here. Catching Our Eye: The future of the purge. Columbus Dispatch’s Rick Rouan and Doug Caruso are reporting, “County election officials wait […]
Supporters of Ohio Fairness Act: ‘We need this legislation’
After being rescheduled because of the education bill fight, supporters are once again scheduled to make their arguments for an anti-LGBTQ discrimination bill in Ohio. The Ohio Fairness Act is a bill that would make sexual orientation and gender identity or expression part of the civil rights law’s “covered characteristics” for which discrimination is prohibited. […]
Ohio counties choosing to become ‘Second Amendment sanctuaries’
A number of counties throughout Ohio are showing their pro-gun bona fides by declaring themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries.” The relatively new trend has led county commissioners around the state to pass resolutions affirming support for the Second Amendment. This includes Lawrence County down near the Ohio River, Jackson and Vinton counties in Southeast Ohio and […]
Ohio House committee considers easing ‘duty to retreat’ laws
A House committee began review Thursday of legislation to expand legal protections for people who threaten, maim or kill someone believed to have been posing a lethal threat to them. Current law says Ohioans have no “duty to retreat” if someone breaks into their home or vehicle before acting in self-defense. House Bill 381, if […]
‘It’s not fine.’ Black mothers and babies are dying in Ohio.
WASHINGTON — Black mothers and babies are dying at staggering rates in Ohio and around the country. The national statistics are alarming: black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. American Indian women are also more than […]
New safety program allows Ohioans to inform police of communication disabilities
The program allowing Ohioans to identify as having a communication disability, for the purpose of informing law enforcement, is now in place. Residents with a diagnosed communications disability can voluntarily be added to the database. The hope is that officers can learn about someone’s disability prior to making contact, which the program’s website states will […]
‘What year is this?’ Ohio congresswomen aim to stamp out hair-based discrimination
WASHINGTON — About a year ago, a New Jersey teen was forced to cut his dreadlocks in order to participate in a high school wrestling match. The wrestler, Andrew Johnson, received a hurried haircut after he was told by a referee that his hair violated wrestling rules. He won the match and state officials opened […]