Proposed constitutional amendment an attempt to boost 3 GOP Ohio Supreme Court

Rotunda Rumblings

Bail call: Ohio House Republicans have introduced a proposed constitutional amendment that would require judges in the state to consider a criminal defendant’s risk to public safety when setting bail. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, the proposal, which would make the November ballot if lawmakers pass it by August, could help the three Republican candidates for Supreme Court this year. The three GOP candidates each dissented from a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, reducing a murder defendant’s bail by $1 million, finding that it’s unconstitutional to intentionally set bail too high for a defendant to pay it.

Attack mode: Consumer attorney Morgan Harper, a Columbus Democrat running for Senate, spent much of a debate Monday with her primary rival, Rep. Tim Ryan of the Niles area, in a bid to differentiate herself from the longtime congressman, Seth Richardson reports. Most of Harper’s focus was on Ryan’s fundraising from specific sectors such as the defense industry and fossil fuels and the likes of Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Ryan said he was happy to welcome support from wherever it may come from and that he wasn’t beholden to fundraising interests.

Farewell neighbor: The Columbus Dispatch newsroom, which has been a stone’s throw from the Ohio Statehouse for years, is moving to the city’s Brewery District once the building at 62 E. Broad St. Is sold. The newspaper announced Monday it listed the building.

Stalking charge: Michael Neary, a candidate for Congress in Rhode Island and former aide to former Gov. John Kasich, was arrested for menacing by stalking and marijuana possession last week in Ohio. Another driver, who did not know Neary, said Neary followed their vehicle from Columbus to Troy, matching speed and lane changes and even stopping at the same rest stop. Neary said he was stressed and focused on the vehicle ahead of him. He’s running for an open seat in the crowded Democratic primary for Rhode Island’s 2nd congressional district, according to the Associated Press.

Damages for damage: At the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday, Amanda Brandt will challenge the state’s caps on damages a court can award to her for a sexual assault she suffered by Roy Pampa of Brook Park, who is in prison for life for the abuse of girls ages 6 to 13. In 2005, the legislature passed “tort reform,” limiting damages. Brandt, who said she suffered drug addiction, homelessness and other effects from the abuse, believes the state law is unconstitutional as applied to her and other child sexual abuse victims, the Dispatch’s Laura Bischoff reports.

Lobbying Lineup

Five organizations lobbying on House Bill 362, which would require law enforcement to undergo training for emotional intelligence, identified in the bill as “the ability to identify and manage a person’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others, and includes self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.” Democrats introduced the measure last May, but the bill hasn’t received committee hearings. State forms don’t require lobbyists to say which side of a bill they’re on.

1. Miami University

2. Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association

3. City of Columbus

4. OhioHealth

5. Columbus State Community College

On the Move

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, on Monday endorsed the congressional bid of his former aide, Shay Hawkins of Broadview Heights. Hawkins is running in the newly reconfigured 13th district, which includes most of Summit County and parts of Stark County.

Straight From The Source

“We need a law like this because our current Ohio code is explicitly discriminatory towards parents with disabilities.”

– Kara Ayers, a Cincinnati parent and professor who uses a wheelchair, talking to the Dispatch’s Anna Staver about Ohio Senate Bill 202, which would prohibit courts and child-placing entities from using a person’s disability as the reason to limit or deny them from caring for a child.

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