Ohio

Ohio CAT unconstitutional when applied to grocers

Posted on September 05, 2008
The 10th. District Ohio Court of Appeals last Tuesday ruled that the state?s commercial activities tax (CAT ), ?when applied to gross receipts from the wholesale sale of food and the retail sale of food for consumption off of the premises where sold, operates as, and is, an excise tax levied or collected on the sale or purchase of food, which is prohibited by Sections 3 and 13 of Article XII of

Is Ohio's personal income tax in danger of extinction?

Posted on August 28, 2008
Is Ohio?s personal income tax in danger of extinction? We don?t really think so, but an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Tuesday morning, cites a Buckeye Institute study ?asserting that cutting the state?s $9.1 billion-a-year in income tax revenue would cause a doubling of all other state tax revenues in five years or less...

Ohio paid sick leave initiative

Posted on August 26, 2008
Advocates have been pushing for paid sick days since the Family & Medical Leave Act was passed eleven years ago, requiring employers to give employees up to 12 weeks unpaid leave a year, an MSNBC article last Wednesday morning said. Proposed federal legislation would provide seven days of paid sick time for everyone working 30 hours a week or more...

Proposed FBI guidelines

Posted on August 25, 2008
The University of Pittsburgh?s Jurist, last week, brought our attention to a letter from Senate Judiciary Committee leaders Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, asking he delay implementation of new FBI guidelines until Congress had a chance to review changes that had been made regarding racial profiling and investigative procedures...

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Ohio DNA preservation bill

Posted on August 22, 2008
Following up on one of Wednesday?s posts, we see that a bill has now been introduced in the Ohio Senate Wednesday that is designed to expand the use of DNA testing and to better protect biological evidence collected from crime scenes. ( Bill ) According to this yesterday?s Enquirer, the bill would also make police lineups and photo arrays ?blind,? better preventing misleading cues being given

Retention of DNA samples/evidence

Posted on August 20, 2008
A Columbus Dispatch article this past weekend projects state lawmakers being scheduled to introduce a bill in the Ohio General Assembly soon, ?fundamentally changing how crime is investigated & prosecuted in the State, and making post-conviction DNA testing available to more convicts...

Ten Commandments vs. "moral relativist views"

Posted on August 20, 2008
The U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio last week ruled that Richland County Court of Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese did not violate a federal court order by displaying a poster depicted as ?an editorial display contrasting the Ten Commandments with moral relativist views? in his courtroom...

Ohio EPA's clean interstate air proposal

Posted on August 01, 2008
Chris Korleski, head of Ohio?s Environmental Protection Agency, testifying before the Senate subcommittee on Clean Air and Energy, last Tuesday, urged passage of a law which would allow the federal government to devise regional plans leading to reductions in air pollutants that cause a wide range of health problems...

New York law applied in pollution indemnity

Posted on August 01, 2008
Speaking of pollution, a New York Law Journal article this morning relates that the Manhattan Supreme Court has ruled that ?the interpretation of insurance policies indemnifying the General Electric Company against liabilities for hundreds of millions of dollars in claims from polluted sites around the country, including the Hudson River, should be decided under New York law...

3rd. Circuit affirms Child Online Protection Act unconstitutional

Posted on July 24, 2008
The 3rd. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ruled the Child Online Protection Act is unconstitutionally broad & vague, upholding last year?s ruling from the District Court in Eastern Pennsylvania. (Ruling) An Associated Press/New York Times article, yesterday, said the decision was ?another twist? in the decade-long battle over the Child Online Protection Act, (Title 14 Pp...

Kentucky Illegal Immigration Test

Posted on July 23, 2008
A lawsuit filed, pro se, in Eastern Kentucky U.S. District Court, Monday, has observers on both sides of the issue saying it?s unique, if controversial, new spin on the volatile national debate over immigration policies by attempting to use the court system to deny services to certain peoples rather than allowing them, a Cincinnati...

Proposed IRA Disclosure Rules

Posted on July 22, 2008
New regulations being proposed by the Labor Department would require employers to disclose more information?and in a clearer format?about fees & investments in company 401(k) plans, now the single most-popular retire-savings device for millions of Americans, a USAToday article this morning says...

Ohio Supreme Court hearing public highway easement question

Posted on July 17, 2008
Last Wednesday, July 11th., the Ohio Supreme Court accepted a case that, by some, is being dubbed as ?far-reaching? in disputes over Ohio Department of Transportation highway easements. ( Docket ) The plaintiff in a Franklin County servient real estate matter claimed it had granted the Department of Transportation a perpetual highway easement in 1959...

Ohio Supreme Court clarifies requirements for trial court "final orders"

Posted on July 15, 2008
In a case involving conflicting interpretations of an Ohio criminal rule of procedure, the Ohio Supreme Court last Wednesday held that: ?A trial court?s judgment of conviction in a criminal case is a ?final? order subject to review by a court of appeals under ORC § 2505...

Ohio "commercial docket" Rules of Superintendence/ Criminal & Civil Procedure, including EDD

Posted on July 11, 2008
Not to be confused with our earlier entry, the Ohio Supreme Court also last Monday adopted a number of amendments to its Rules of Appellate, Criminal & Civil Procedures, as part of its annual updating based on recommendations from the Commission on Rules of Practice & Procedure...

Proposed Amendments to Ohio Rules of Superintendence of the Courts/ Access to Court Records

Posted on July 11, 2008
A number of articles appeared in local papers last weekend about the Ohio Supreme Court?s Commission on the Rules of Superintendence endorsing a measure on June 27th. that would allow parties in a court case to redact ?personal identifiers? such as social security & bank account numbers, and the names of children...

International "Rule of Law"

Posted on July 07, 2008
The World Justice Forum, convened in Vienna this past weekend, was envisioned as ?the founders project? for the World Justice Project, bringing together world leaders from 112 countries and a diversity of disciplines including former and present heads of state, CEOs of multinational corporations & labor leaders, and directors of key nongovernmental organizations...

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds FCC rules case

Posted on July 01, 2008
The 6th. Circuit Court of Appeals last Friday upheld the Federal Communications Commission?s authority to set rules making it easier for new cable companies in a community obtain local franchises needed to compete. The ruling was a consolidation of a number of suits against the FCC, claiming it had overstepped its authority...

6th. Circuit Court of Appeals certifies abortion question to Ohio Supreme Court

Posted on June 27, 2008
The 6th. Circuit Court of Appeals, last Monday, certified an almost 4-year old Planned Parenthood case centering around RU-486, a drug used to induced abortions, and the Ohio statute passed in June 2004 specifically prohibiting its use, to the Supreme Court...

Illinois Circuit Court Rules addition in "Measure of Damages per Shortened Life Expectancies"

Posted on June 26, 2008
Illinois circuit courts in May added ?shortened life expectancies? to its measures of damage pattern jury instructions: 30.04.05 Measure of Damages?Shortened Life Expectancy This instruction is appropriate if there is evidence that plaintiff?s life expectancy has been shortened by the tort...

Supreme Court decides Pro Se compentency limits

Posted on June 20, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday held that defendants found mentally competent enough to stand trial are not necessarily likewise competent enough to represent themselves at that trial. (Case ) Coming out of the state of Indiana, the trial court had relied on a lengthy amassing of psychiatric reports, noting that the defendant had been diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia, and

Ohio DUI legislation

Posted on June 17, 2008
The Ohio General Assembly last Tuesday passed sweeping legislation cracking down on DUIs in this state. (Text)(Analysis) The new law, once signed by Gov. Strickland, includes requiring repeat offenders to install $90-a-month ignition ?interlocks? on their cars ? the seventh state to have that kind of provision ? and creates a public, online ?habitual OVI offender? database for persons having

Walgreen's whistleblower lawsuit settlement

Posted on June 05, 2008
Walgreen?s, the nation?s largest chain drugstore, yesterday agreed to pay $35 million in settlement to a federal whistleblower lawsuit which alleged it had substituted more expensive versions of three prescription drugs from July 2001 thru 2005 to Medicaid programs from 42 states and Puerto Rico...

Civil Liabilities vs. Governmental Agencies

Posted on June 04, 2008
A pair of rulings from the Ohio Supreme Court today examined child abuse particulars regarding a governmental agency?s immunity to civil liability. The first case spawned from an incident back in March 2000 when a daycare facility came to suspect a four-year old girl was being abused...

Canton, Ohio weed control initiative

Posted on June 04, 2008
The City of Canton, Ohio has a reasonably interesting situation happening at an opportune time. Its city council unanimously approved toughening its high-grass & weed ordinance on June 2nd., making violations for repeat offenders a fourth-degree misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $250, and up to 30 days in jail...

Ohio Court Interpreter Guidelines

Posted on May 29, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Interpreter Services has published a ?Handbook for Judges Using Court Interpreters? to consider in cases where interpreters are needed. ?The need for court interpreters in Ohio has never been greater,? Interpreter Services Program manager Bruno Romero said in the Court?s announcement earlier this week...

Transracial adoptions

Posted on May 27, 2008
An AP article this morning?s relates several leading child welfare groups urging an ?overhaul of federal laws dealing with transracial adoption, and arguing that black children in foster care are ill-served by the so-called ?color-blind? approached meant to encourage their adoption by white families...

Ohio Supreme Court upholds life sentence for rape committed as juvenile

Posted on May 09, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court Tuesday held that the imposition of the state?s mandatory life imprisonment sentence for the forcible rape of an underage victim did not violate the defendant?s due process rights even when he was only 15 years old at the time of his crime, but hadn?t been prosecuted until he was 21...

New Illinois civil jury instruction

Posted on May 07, 2008
The State of Illinois has added the following ?Opinion Testimony? information to its civil jury instructions. (Website Here)

Review of Ohio Workers' Compensation final settlement cases

Posted on May 05, 2008
The Ohio Bureau of Workers? Compensation is trying to figure out the impact of the April 16th. Supreme Court ruling that sided with an injured worker with a low IQ and limited reading skills who broke his leg in a fall at a Galion factory back in 1997...

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