anyplainjoe
04-17-2008, 08:09
From The Dispatch
By Jim Siegel
If a man's home is his castle, then that man has every right to shoot an intruder who would dare to break in.
That's the gist of Senate Bill 184, the so-called Castle Doctrine. It presumes that a resident acted in self-defense if he or she used force against someone who unlawfully enters the person's home or occupied vehicle. Pushed by the National Rifle Association, the bill passed the Senate unanimously yesterday and now moves to the House.
Sen. Stephen Buehrer, R-Delta, said his bill is "affirming a fundamental exercise of Ohioans' Second Amendment rights."
Though common law generally allows people to defend themselves or others from an intruder by lethal means, lawmakers want to leave no doubts.
"Despite these common-law recognitions, we in Ohio are one anti-gun judge or prosecutor away from seeing these rights disappear," Buehrer said.
Sen. Tom Sawyer said he is uncomfortable dealing with firearms issues, but he views the proposal a different way.
"This bill does not deal with firearms. This bill deals with a right to defend yourself," the Akron Democrat said. "When I stopped thinking about guns and started thinking about the baseball bat I keep by my bed … it puts a whole different light on the question."
But to prosecutors, this is a bill in search of a problem.
"(Current law) has been on the books for many years, and we haven't had problems," said John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association. "People who are legitimately defending themselves aren't going to get charged anyway."
Even worse, Murphy said, is that the bill could lead to some criminals avoiding prosecution. He pointed to a situation in which a home's resident and someone else who isn't really an intruder get into a fight, and the visitor is killed.
"Then the guy is going to be able to take advantage of this when it really should not apply to that case," he said. "It's hard to distinguish the legitimate self-defender as opposed to people who are not so law-abiding."
The bill also prevents a person from filing a civil lawsuit because of something that occurred while the person was committing a crime. For example, a burglar can't sue if he breaks his neck after running out of your house and slipping on the front porch.
The bill also allows for multiple firearm specifications if a person kills multiple victims, ending what Sen. Timothy J. Grendell, R-Chesterland, called a "volume discount for criminals."
In other business yesterday, the Senate:
• Unanimously approved House Bill 46, an anti- identity-theft measure that would allow Ohioans to place a freeze on their credit reports for any reason at a cost of no more than $5. The bill also requires public officials to remove Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information from records available on the Internet.
House concurrence is likely, said Rep. Jimmy Stewart, R-Athens, the bill's sponsor.
• Unanimously approved Senate Bill 260, which would permit county sheriffs, upon the request of federal officials, to intervene in the investigation and detention of illegal immigrants. Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester, said the bill clarifies what role sheriffs can play in helping to enforce civil matters such as deportation.
Sheriffs would not be permitted to initiate their own immigration investigations, Cates said. The bill now goes to the House.
• Unanimously approved Senate Bill 289, which would create a new cabinet-level Ohio Department of Veterans' Services, designed to serve the needs of Ohio's nearly 958,000 veterans.
Sponsor Sen. Robert F. Spada, R-North Royalton, said with one centralized agency the state can administer services more efficiently and with greater accountability. Gov. Ted Strickland has called for the new department. The bill now goes to the House.
jsiegel@dispatch.com
By Jim Siegel
If a man's home is his castle, then that man has every right to shoot an intruder who would dare to break in.
That's the gist of Senate Bill 184, the so-called Castle Doctrine. It presumes that a resident acted in self-defense if he or she used force against someone who unlawfully enters the person's home or occupied vehicle. Pushed by the National Rifle Association, the bill passed the Senate unanimously yesterday and now moves to the House.
Sen. Stephen Buehrer, R-Delta, said his bill is "affirming a fundamental exercise of Ohioans' Second Amendment rights."
Though common law generally allows people to defend themselves or others from an intruder by lethal means, lawmakers want to leave no doubts.
"Despite these common-law recognitions, we in Ohio are one anti-gun judge or prosecutor away from seeing these rights disappear," Buehrer said.
Sen. Tom Sawyer said he is uncomfortable dealing with firearms issues, but he views the proposal a different way.
"This bill does not deal with firearms. This bill deals with a right to defend yourself," the Akron Democrat said. "When I stopped thinking about guns and started thinking about the baseball bat I keep by my bed … it puts a whole different light on the question."
But to prosecutors, this is a bill in search of a problem.
"(Current law) has been on the books for many years, and we haven't had problems," said John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association. "People who are legitimately defending themselves aren't going to get charged anyway."
Even worse, Murphy said, is that the bill could lead to some criminals avoiding prosecution. He pointed to a situation in which a home's resident and someone else who isn't really an intruder get into a fight, and the visitor is killed.
"Then the guy is going to be able to take advantage of this when it really should not apply to that case," he said. "It's hard to distinguish the legitimate self-defender as opposed to people who are not so law-abiding."
The bill also prevents a person from filing a civil lawsuit because of something that occurred while the person was committing a crime. For example, a burglar can't sue if he breaks his neck after running out of your house and slipping on the front porch.
The bill also allows for multiple firearm specifications if a person kills multiple victims, ending what Sen. Timothy J. Grendell, R-Chesterland, called a "volume discount for criminals."
In other business yesterday, the Senate:
• Unanimously approved House Bill 46, an anti- identity-theft measure that would allow Ohioans to place a freeze on their credit reports for any reason at a cost of no more than $5. The bill also requires public officials to remove Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information from records available on the Internet.
House concurrence is likely, said Rep. Jimmy Stewart, R-Athens, the bill's sponsor.
• Unanimously approved Senate Bill 260, which would permit county sheriffs, upon the request of federal officials, to intervene in the investigation and detention of illegal immigrants. Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester, said the bill clarifies what role sheriffs can play in helping to enforce civil matters such as deportation.
Sheriffs would not be permitted to initiate their own immigration investigations, Cates said. The bill now goes to the House.
• Unanimously approved Senate Bill 289, which would create a new cabinet-level Ohio Department of Veterans' Services, designed to serve the needs of Ohio's nearly 958,000 veterans.
Sponsor Sen. Robert F. Spada, R-North Royalton, said with one centralized agency the state can administer services more efficiently and with greater accountability. Gov. Ted Strickland has called for the new department. The bill now goes to the House.
jsiegel@dispatch.com
