Backers of Proposed Sovereignty Amendment to Ohio Constitution Get Green Light to Start Collecting Signatures

The Ohio Ballot Board has given the green light to a group that will start collecting signatures to put what it calls the Ohio Sovereignty Amendment on the November, 2010, Ohio ballot.

The amendment would, among other things, allow juries to nullify laws and trial judges would have to so instruct juries of this right. The language of the proposed amendment that would grant jurors this right reads as follows:

Jury Nullification

All juries shall be comprised only of Ohio Citizens, and in the course of serving in any criminal or civil action in an Ohio court, shall have the right to hear and determine both the facts and the law of the case. And, in the event the jury determines that the law presented or applied against the defendant shall serve to an unjust end, the jury shall have the absolute right, without objection or interference from the court, to suspend or nullify the law as applied in such case. Such determination shall require at least a three-fourths vote of the members of the jury in favor of nullification. The judicial or administrative officer in charge of the proceedings shall instruct the jury of its right of nullification of the law in every case before commencement of trial.

The proposed amendment also declares Ohio to be a "republic" as shown by this section:

General Duty of the State

The state of Ohio shall operate solely as a free and independent republic and within the Union of federated states comprising The United States of America, and its government shall faithfully, diligently, and prudently exercise all powers and authorities granted to it by this Constitution.

Also, only local elected boards of education would have the power to regulate schools, as shown by this section of the proposed amendment:

Control of Education at Local Level

Public educational curriculum and operations, except funding, for children through the twelfth grade shall be regulated solely at the local school district level.

Other parts of the amendment deal with granting the Ohio county sheriffs the primary power to enforce federal laws in Ohio. This is shown by the following section:

Prohibition Against Federal and Foreign Agents

No enforcement action shall be exercised by any federal or foreign agency against the people in Ohio except through the county Sheriff and upon presentment of a valid judicial warrant, in which instance said Sheriff shall apprehend and deliver the accused to the appropriate authority at the county jail. The Sheriff may rely on assistance from relevant federal or foreign agents, at his sole discretion.

The whole text of the proposed amendment may be read by clicking here. In order to appear on the November ballot, the group backing this amendment must obtain over 402,275 valid signatures of registered voters by June 30, including signatures from at least 44 of the 88 counties in Ohio equaling 5 percent of the 2006 vote for governor in each of those counties.