Excerpts of recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Ohio newspapers:
The (Youngstown) Vindicator, May 29
When more than 75 percent of the voters in this month’s primary election approved a constitutional amendment for the redrawing of Ohio’s congressional map, the message was clear: The current congressional districts are an abomination.
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The mapmakers - they met in secret because they knew the public would not stand for their shenanigans - packed Democrats into four districts.
The fact that some boundaries stretch 100 miles is proof of GOP political immorality.
The 1.1 million-plus voters who approved Issue 1 earlier this month obviously thought so as well.
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We strongly endorsed State Issue 1 and hailed its passage. But if there’s a downside, it is that the new map stemming from the constitutional amendment will not be created until after the 2020 census. In other words, the current congressional boundaries that Ohioans rejected will remain intact for the next several years.
That said, there is one move that could speed up the transition to fair, sensible districts: a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the current map.
That suit has been filed in federal court in Cincinnati by the following plaintiffs: the Ohio League of Women Voters; the Ohio chapter of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute; one Democratic voter in each of the state’s 16 congressional districts.
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Given the glaring unconstitutionality of Ohio’s congressional district map, the lawsuit filed by the Ohio League of Women Voters and others is timely and necessary.
We are confident that the 1.1 million voters who supported State Issue 1 would fully endorse the legal action so changes can be made without waiting for the 2020 population census numbers.
Online: https://bit.ly/2Jiw6FT
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Akron Beacon Journal, May 28
A decade ago, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a landmark victory for advocates of gun rights. The narrow majority found in the Second Amendment an individual right to bear arms for self-protection. The court also ruled the right is not absolute. Reasonable regulations can be applied.
What is reasonable?
Listen to the testimony of some gun rights advocates at the Statehouse last week, and the answer is practically nothing. For instance, Chris Dorr, the director of Ohio Gun Owners, didn’t just reject the sensible proposals put forward by Gov. John Kasich and a group of former lawmakers, now in the form of House Bill 585. He did so most harshly and defiantly.
Dorr described the governor as among the “radical gun-control militants.” He portrayed the proposed legislation as “destroying our Second, Fourth, Fifth and 14th Amendment rights,” along with a section of the Ohio Constitution.
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What is it that the governor has proposed to stir such opposition?
Recall that the proposals reflect a consensus among those working with the governor, all supporters of individual gun rights.
These are reasonable ideas. For instance, the governor wants to see a process in which family members or law enforcement officials could ask a judge to remove temporarily a person’s guns from their possession. This would involve due process. The measure seeks to keep weapons from those who pose a threat to themselves or others.
To keep guns out of the wrong hands, the proposals would strengthen background checks, prohibit “straw man” purchases (buying for a third party who is banned from owning a gun) and bar those convicted of domestic violence or subject to a protection order from purchasing a gun. House Bill 585 also would prohibit the buying of armor-piercing bullets and devices that turn weapons into virtual machine guns.
The bill would not wreck gun rights. They are preserved in the context of enhancing public safety.
Online: https://bit.ly/2xo3lmq
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The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, May 31
On the Army Corps of Engineers’ dredging front, it’s been concord and good will for months. But a recent Senate subcommittee investigation led by Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio reminds us how recently Corps officials were “gaming” the system with budget manipulations and attempted extortion over keeping Cleveland’s economically critical Cuyahoga River navigation channel open for business.
A Senate investigation has concluded that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sought and received a $3.5 million cut in its annual budget for 2016 with the intention of forcing the Ohio EPA to accept the dumping of dredged sediment into Lake Erie, Sen. Rob Portman said in a letter (on May 10).
Among the Army Corps’ gambits struck down a year ago in a scathing 52-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent: trying to force Ohio to pay more than $1 million of federal dredge costs before the Corps would even agree to dredge the final “money” mile to ArcelorMittal docks.
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There are reasons Congress prioritized Cuyahoga River dredging and budgeted to cover its costs - the Cleveland harbor accounts for $1.7 billion in direct economic activity, $1 billion in personal income and thousands of related jobs, Nugent noted in his ruling. Spinoffs are national as well as regional, including in Ohio construction and manufacturing.
Recently, the Corps has been compliant, with a new leadership team in the office of the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, led since March by R.D. James.
But is it game over for Army Corps machinations? And if the Corps attempted such high-profile tactics in Cleveland - in the teeth of public outrage, a barrage of critical editorials, determined state leadership and high-placed congressional representatives frequently confronting Army officials with their concerns - what might it be doing or contemplating in other, smaller harbors that can’t mount such a concerted fight?
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Four years of strife prompted by the Army Corps’ announcement in late 2013 that it planned to dump as much as 80 percent of Cleveland Harbor dredge directly into Lake Erie, instead of putting all contaminated sludge in a safe confined disposal facility as it had done for four decades, has cost taxpayers plenty. No more. Let the battles end.
Kudos to Portman for shining a light on the Corps’ internal maneuvers, to ensure that today’s safe, sustainable dredging continues.
Online: https://bit.ly/2HgNhmh
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The (Toledo) Blade, June 3
Going to court is serious business.
The days of powdered wigs may be behind us, but courtrooms are still far from casual environments. And that is what leads at least one Lucas County judge to warn the public, defendants, and witnesses each summer that she will not tolerate inappropriate dress or behavior in her courtroom.
Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Linda Jennings posts a sign at the beginning of each summer when warmer weather may tempt people to dress too casually. The judge does not want to see anyone wearing shorts or tank tops. She does not want to see any bare midriffs.
It is astonishing that these guidelines need to be spelled out.
But since they do, good for Judge Jennings.
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Serious events happen in courtrooms. People’s lives are substantially altered by the decisions made there. People are sent to prison, victims of crimes are made whole, families are both united and broken apart.
This should be a solemn and serious atmosphere. It is not, as another judge sometimes points out, a trip to the gym.
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If you are headed to a courtroom, check a mirror and ask yourself, “Do I look like I am headed to the beach?” If you do, rethink your wardrobe. Court is no day at the beach.
Online: https://bit.ly/2JdBUkL
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