Ohio

Ohio Supreme Court note on 'Special Project Funds'

Posted on February 09, 2009
Near the beginning of the year Ohio Attorney General?s office issued an opinion relating a municipal court's use of its "special project funds." Last week, the Ohio Supreme Court's information office related that that opinion "may have implications for courts that have established special project funds...

Ohio Supreme Court to hear Commercial Activity Tax case

Posted on February 05, 2009
The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday agreed to hear a petition challenging the constitutionality of the state?s Commercial Activities Tax when it?s applied to food sold by wholesalers and in groceries. (See Docket ) The Ohio Grocers Association had sued the state back in 2006, contending that the tax was constitutionally prohibited when applied to the wholesale sale of food and the retail sale

Ohio Supreme Court Rules of Procedure

Posted on February 04, 2009
The Ohio Supreme Court, in an informational release Monday morning, announced it will continue to be accepting public comment on a set of revised amendments to annual updates to appellate, civil, criminal, and juvenile Rules of Procedure thru March 3, 2009 ( Release ) Initially published for comment on Oct...

New Presidential Website

Posted on January 21, 2009
Barrack Obama became the nation?s 44th. President of the United States at noon yesterday before the eyes of probably almost the entire world. In the Wall Street Journal he was courted as ?calling for a new era of responsibility.? Today?s his first day at THE OFFICE --- Now 26 hours old ?Nobody said this would be easy or all fun...

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Social Security Administration's Online Retirement Application

Posted on January 07, 2009
The Social Security Administration ? in part envisaging the prospect of having some 80 million baby boomers becoming eligible for retirement in the not-too-distant future at the rate of some 10,000 a day for the next 20 years -- yesterday introduced another new service that will allow applying for retirement benefits online...

Ohio Supreme Court Public Access Rules

Posted on December 23, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday announced adoption of its rules regarding public access to court records? its first formal policy guiding what court records the public can and cannot see, according to the Toledo Blade?ending, or at least putting on hold for a time, a debate reaching back some six years or more that initial addressed privacy matters & identity theft concerns as more courts began

New Ohio Jury Instructions

Posted on December 15, 2008
Sometimes announcements get overlooked or are not widely spread around, even though of importance to many people. In case you missed it?.. Ohio Jury Instructions (OJI) were reorganized by the Ohio Judicial Conference back in November to simplify their use by judges and practitioners...

White-collar crime influxes

Posted on November 24, 2008
Top white-collar criminal defense attorneys are beginning to receive steady flows of inquiries from clients embroiled in the ongoing credit crisis, the National Law Journal reported in its November 10th. issue. (Subscription) ?700 billion dollars can?t go out the door without someone going to jail,? Abbe Lowell, head of the white-collar crime defense practice section of McDermott, Will &

Ohio Supreme Court documenting state's Pro Se work

Posted on November 20, 2008
The prodigy of Henry Campbell Black describe pro bono activities as ?being or involving uncompensated legal services performed, especially for the public good,? and former American Bar Association President Jerome Shestack, ten years ago back in August 1998, included them among his six determinant components of legal professionalism along with ?ethics and integrity, competence combined with

John McCain on matters of law

Posted on October 27, 2008
The National Law Journal, as it has in the past, invited the major presidential and vice presidential candidates to write about the legal issues facing the next administration and to offer their views on such topics as the rule of law, the federal court system, judicial appointees and priorities for the U...

New Federal Rule Pre-empting State Tort Claims Relating to Seatbelts

Posted on October 10, 2008
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a new final regulatory rule ?amending the definition of ??designated seating positions,?? as used in the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS), to indicate more clearly which areas within the interior of a vehicle meet that definition? The amendments establish ?a calculation procedure for determining the number of designated

Failure to advise that state has to prove case 'beyond reasonable doubt' voids guilty plea -- Ohio Supreme Court

Posted on October 09, 2008
The Supreme Court of Ohio today ruled that, ?before accepting a guilty plea to a felony offense, Ohio trial courts must strictly comply with Ohio Criminal Rule 11(C)(2)(c) by orally advising the defendant of five specific constitutional rights the defendant will waive (give up) by pleading guilty...

Public Comments to Ohio Supreme Court Proposed Rule on Retired Judges

Posted on October 07, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court has made public an amendment proposal to its rules of court relating to retired judges handling civil actions or proceedings in the state. ( Press Release ) The proposed amendment to Judiciary Government Rule VI (C)(2) would conform the existing rule to the Supreme Court?s holding in Barnes v...

Ohio Supreme Court upholds expanded "Megan's Law" guidelines

Posted on October 03, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court has again upheld retroactive applications of the state?s amended sex offender reporting & notification rules this past Wednesday. ( Article ) Originally passed in 1996, Ohio?s sex offender registration & notification law was amended in 2003 and again twice last year in pertinent parts...

Kentucky AG fights state's early releases

Posted on October 02, 2008
Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway filed suit yesterday to block the early release of prisoners that?s part of that state?s department of corrections cost-cutting plan passed by legislation last year.( Article ) Conway?s suit moves to enjoin early releases being made on several points, including that they are not being made limited to non-violent offenders, but without differentiating

Kennedy v. Louisiana

Posted on October 02, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court denied the State of Louisiana?s petition for rehearing after considering that state?s argument that ?the military penalty for rape, a congressional amendment of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 2006, and a related executive order in 2007 ? not considered in its initial June 25th...

Proposed Federal Trade Commission Rules for Adjudicative Proceedings

Posted on September 29, 2008
Marcia Coyle at the National Law Journal has an article posted this morning about the Federal Trade Commission?s proposing ?new rules to improve and streamline enforcement actions tried before administrative law judges? last Thursday. Part 3 and sections of Part 4 of the Commission?s Rules of Practice concern the process of administrative adjudication at the agency...

New Federal Evidence Rule 502

Posted on September 25, 2008
Senate Bill 2450 ? signed by President Bush last Friday-- establishes a new federal rule of evidence that states ?the inadvertent disclosure of privileged material would not result in a waiver of attorney client and work product privilege as long as the party responsible for the disclosure took reasonable steps to prevent that release of material...

Ohio Supreme Court's gun control holding

Posted on September 23, 2008
Last Thursday, reminiscent of the U.S. Supreme Court?s District of Columbia v. Heller decision back in June of this year, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the City of Clyde?s ordinance banning the possession of firearms in public parks because it conflicted with a general state law permitting licensed individuals to generally carry concealed weapons...

Ohio Southern District Fair Housing/Sex Disrimination settlement....?

Posted on September 22, 2008
Victims of a former Forest Park, Ohio landlord achieved a potentially major victory last week in the largest sex discrimination case in the history of the Fair Housing Act, but they may never see a dime of their victory, according to an article in last Friday?s Enquirer, because the defendant in that case has ?no asstes...

Commentary Period for New Ohio Protection Order Notification Forms

Posted on September 22, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court this morning announced that it will be seeking public comment on proposed judicial firearm notification forms for those charged with domestic violence or subject to protective orders. Portions of House Bill 562, which was passed by the General Assembly June 10th...

Ohio Supreme Court certified post-judgment interest rate question

Posted on September 18, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court resolved a certified question last Tuesday as to whether a bill adjusting post-judgment interest rates applied to final judgments entered prior to the bill?s effective date, but not paid in full pending appeals. The Court answered in the affirmative...

Wall Street's meltdown

Posted on September 17, 2008
The Jurist reported yesterday morning that several members of Congress were speaking out about ?regulatory changes & investigations following the stock market drop propelled by Lehman Brothers? Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and the sale of Merrill Lynch Monday...

FBI Investigative Guidelines

Posted on September 17, 2008
The Justice Department and FBI, last week, re-announced plans to implement new guidelines extending agency investigatory powers relating to terrorism. The University of Pittsburgh?s Jurist relates that ?the plan calls for a merging of the Guidelines on General Crimes, National Security Investigative Guidelines, and the confidential Supplemental Foreign Intelligence Guidelines...

Ohio "castle doctrine" law

Posted on September 12, 2008
?Castle Law? is a doctrine of protection & self-defense having roots as far back as feudal common law. In its simplest form it?s the idea that you can protect your home and family from all invaders with whatever means necessary. Wikipedia has an excellent overview of the subject, noting that ?each state differs with respect to the specific instances in which castle doctrine can be invoked, and

New Ohio laws

Posted on September 12, 2008
There are some 14 bills passed by the Ohio General Assembly which have gone into effect this week or will be next week, including Ohio?s ?Castle Doctrine? law (SB 184) which became effective Tuesday. Others include: SB183 IMPORTUNING requires the imposition of a mandatory prison term for the offense of "importuning" if an offender previously has been

Ohio "non-recourse" funding legislation

Posted on September 11, 2008
Anthony Sebok devoted one of his FindLaw commentaries earlier this week to what he terms ?Ohio?s wisely correcting a mistake that was made by its Supreme Court five years ago.? ( Here ) ?In 2003,? he writes, ?in Ransman v. Interim Settlement Funding Corp...

Ohio "Next-of-Kin" Database

Posted on September 11, 2008
The State of Ohio, last Monday, became one of a relatively small number of states having a ?next-of-kin? database built around its drivers license and state ID records. Florida has a like program, started two years ago. Ohio?s program was given birth to back in Nov...

Ohio Supreme Court oral argument streaming

Posted on September 10, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court has announced that, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 16th., it will begin a transition from streaming live oral arguments and other programs using the Real Media (.rm) format to Flash Video (.flv). The Court?s announcement says that ?Beginning with the Sept...

Ohio Supreme Court public record rules

Posted on September 10, 2008
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Ann Lanzinger last week announced that the commission appointed by the Supreme Court on rules governing public access to court records approached its task balancing two important concepts: protecting the public?s right to know while at the same time protecting the individual?s right of privacy...

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