COLUMBUS, Ohio — Issue 1, which allowed voters to determine if judges should be required to consider public safety when setting bail amounts has passed, based on unofficial election results.
Ohio courts are now required to consider a person’s criminal record, public safety and the likelihood the defendant will return to court.
In January, a majority on the Ohio Supreme Court sided with current state law, prohibiting a court from setting excessive bail. Bail is considered unconstitutional when the amount is much higher than necessary to make sure the accused person will return for their court date.
"There are judges who say that after this ruling that their hands are tied and they can't consider public safety," Mike Weinman with the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio said. "So what this does is let them know that, yes, you can."
Weinman said the proposed amendment will keep dangerous criminals off the street, but Niki Clum with the Office of the Ohio Public Defender argued that isn’t true.
"Issue 1 allows courts to set ridiculously high cash bail amounts and hopes that defendants can't pay it," she said. "It actually makes us less safe because what actually makes Ohioans more safe is individual determination."
Individual determination is when courts look at a specific case and have the court set conditions of bail that are relevant to that person, she said.
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