ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - It's a matter of public safety. That was the driving force of the "Yes on Issue One Campaign" making a stop in Lima today.
The bus pulled into the Allen County Republican Party Victory Center bringing some heavy hitters asking voters to vote yes on Issue One. Speaking today was Ohio's attorney general, 2 Ohio Supreme Court justices, and a handful of other officials in favor of Issue One.
It is a proposed constitutional amendment to state that judges shall consider the safety of the community when setting a bond. It is in response to the 4 to 3 vote of the Ohio Supreme Court rejecting the trial judge's decision to consider the victim's family's fear of retribution when setting bail in a homicide case in Hamilton County. Those on hand today say this is just wrong.
"The people that are victims of crime are in these neighborhoods too, okay? Those are the ones that are suffering. And somehow over time, we have shifted away from the victims of these crimes to the defendants. And it's frankly, as a prosecutor it's disgusting. These victims are suffering. They deserve our protection. The first rule of government is to protect its citizens, and we should be doing that," said Joseph Deters, Hamilton County Prosecutor.
"The criminal rule that we were supposed to be following specifically says that judges can consider the safety of any person in the community when they set bail. So when the court majority issues decision, it was essentially ignoring what the rules were and writing its own," explained Justice Pat DeWine, Ohio Supreme Court.
"Three of us wrote separate descents. People don't understand, normally one of us, one person writes a descent and the others just join. There were so many things wrong with this decision, three of us wrote descents," commented Justice Pat Fischer, Ohio Supreme Court.
Fischer, DeWine, and Kennedy wrote those separate descents. Those opposing State Issue 1, such as the ACLU, state in a news release that its passage would enshrine cash bail into the Ohio Constitution under the guise of public safety and that it has everything to do with politics and nothing to do with policy. Early voting is underway and election day is Tuesday, November 8th.
