The Ohio Coalition To End Qualified Immunity Resubmits Petition To Protect Ohioans’ Constitutional Rights

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 09 AUG 2023

COLUMBUS, OH - AUGUST 9, 2023 - The Ohio Coalition To End Qualified Immunity (The OCEQI) announced today the second resubmission of petitions for the "Protecting Ohioans' Constitutional Rights" amendment to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. The amendment seeks to ensure greater accountability for government actions.

Overview of the Amendment:

- Eliminates various immunities for government actors, including qualified, sovereign, prosecutorial, and statutory immunities in civil cases.

- Holds the State and its political subdivisions accountable for the conduct of their employees, ensuring responsibility for any constitutional rights violations.

- When someone wins a civil case against the government, a judge would order the State or government “to take reasonable measures to prevent a similar rights violation from re-occurring”

- Provides the option for the State or political subdivision to terminate the public employee’s employment, agreement, or contract when someone wins a case against the government

Next Steps:

AG Yost has 10 days to certify the summary. Upon certification, the ballot board will determine if the proposed amendment is a single issue or if it needs division into multiple issues. To qualify for the November 2024 ballot, signatures equivalent to 10% of votes from the last gubernatorial election (approximately 420,000) must be collected and submitted by the first week of July 2024.

The OCEQI reaffirms its commitment to holding the government accountable when constitutional rights are violated, ensuring that Ohioans are protected and heard.

This submission comes one day after the decisive defeat of Issue 1, a legislative-initiated amendment that sought to restrict the rights of Ohioans to use the petition process for proposing amendments to the state constitution.

More information can be found at oceqi.org

###ENDS###

For media inquiries, contact:

Kyle Pierce
press@oceqi.org
614-715-3104

Executive Director Kyle Pierce (left), Committee Chair Cynthia Brown (center), and Committee Member Pastor Marcella Bailey (right) in the James A. Rhodes State Office Tower