Greetings Fellow Democrats,
At our last meeting we had a brief discussion regarding the 2 issues on the
ballot. We realized we know a little bit but not enough to really
understand what they mean.
I looked them up and this is the gist of issue 1.
Ohio Issue 1 Determining Bail Amount Based on Public Safety Amendment
Currently the section reads:
Procedures for establishing the amount and conditions of bail shall be
established pursuit of Article IV Section 5(b) of the Constitution of the
State of Ohio
Will change to:
When determining the amount of bail, the court shall consider public
safety, including the seriousness of the offense and a person's criminal
record, the likelihood a person will return to court and any other factor
the general assemble may presribe.
The ammendment came from a case that bail was set so high the accused could
never pay. It was challenged and the bail was reduced. The Republican house
and Senate passed the ammendment. This is an interesting read to see how
this came about and the pros and cons for this Constitution change.
A vote yes supports requiring courts to consider factors such as public
safety, the seriousness of offense, a person's criminal record and a
person's likelihood of returning to court when setting bail.
A vote no opposes requiring courts to consider factors such as public
safety.
The ACLU says rich people who pay the bail can still be a threat to
society. This measure targets the poor.
Please look this issue up. I used https://ballotpedia.org/Ohio_issue1
The BOE and each polling site location will have the issues posted. They
currently do not have any literature to hand out.
This is information regarding issue 1, my next email will be issue 2.
This is an important election, talk with family and friends to get the vote
out.
Go Blue!
Ramona
HCDP Chair
