Yost had repeatedly rejected proposed summary language for the measure as not being a fair and accurate representation of what the measure would do.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Prompted by a stinging defeat at the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Tuesday said he was putting aside his objections and allowing a proposed constitutional amendment that would end qualified immunity for police and other government employees to move forward.
Yost’s action came the same day the high court declined to stay a preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, which sided with the measure’s backers that their First Amendment rights to free speech had likely been violated.
With Ohio’s nearly century-old ballot initiative process at risk of being permanently declared unconstitutional, Yost moved immediately to dismiss the appeal he had filed in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Yost had repeatedly rejected proposed summary language for the measure as not being a fair and accurate representation of what the measure would do.
However, lower courts found that he had placed a “severe burden” on organizers when it came to communicating with voters and meeting the filing deadline. They also rejected Yost’s argument that the case belonged to the Ohio Supreme Court.
“Dave Yost has demonstrated that he can’t be trusted with that amount of power,” said Mark Brown, an attorney for the organizers. “It’s a lot of power to give any state official, especially an elected official. The Supreme Court made the right decision.”
Yost issued a statement saying he planned to work with the Republican-supermajority state Legislature to craft legislation “to reform the ballot initiative summary process to protect the integrity of Ohio’s elections and freedom of speech.”
The constitutional amendment would end qualified immunity, special legal protections that prevent people from suing over claims that police or government workers violated their constitutional rights.
Supporters say the proposed ballot measure is about holding government accountable when someone’s constitutional rights are violated. Critics say it could hurt law enforcement officers’ ability to do their jobs.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 9 President Brian Steel worries ending qualified immunity will hurt recruitment and the ability of officers to do their jobs.
“Who’s going to take this job without any kind of protections?” Steel asked.
The group behind the statewide campaign is the Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity.
On its website the coalition says, “The existence of qualified immunity has led to a lack of accountability for our government and has hindered the ability for citizens to seek justice for the misconduct of government employees. This has resulted in a lack of transparency and accountability within government and has prevented victims of misconduct from seeking accountability and compensation for their injuries.”
Steel argues qualified immunity is not absolute immunity.
“Officers’ qualified immunity can and has been waived by courts in the rare incidents that they go out of bounds and violate Fourth Amendment rights,” Steel said. “It is not some blanket that officers could just act with complete impunity.”
The proposed constitutional amendment proceeds next to the Ohio Ballot Board for certification. After that, organizers would have to submit more than 400,000 valid voter signatures to the Secretary of State’s office by July 2 to get the measure on the November ballot.
