Homeless sue Hamilton County

   Antonio Wilson, Gary Hudson, Shafter Jinks, and Brandon Booker – four homeless men who are among those sleeping in front of the Hamilton County Courthouse and Justice Center – have filed suit in U.S. Southern Ohio District Court against Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil after officials for more than a month have said those spaces will no longer allowed to be de facto homeless camps, citing potential public health concerns from the messes that are left and have to be cleaned up each day.

 “People should not be threatened with arrest and removal for being homeless,” Josh Spring, Director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, told Cincinnati.com last Tuesday.  “After 30 years of different people finding relative safety sleeping in front of the courthouse and justice center and weeks of successful collaboration to find long-lasting solutions, Sheriff Jim Neil, is unwilling to give enough time for full success and has threatened arrest.”

  “Among the claims,” the article says, are the homeless’ having a right to remain ‘free from cruel and unusual punishment, including the right not to be criminally punished’ for being homeless, and  includes Sheriff Neil’s posting “no trespass” signs on the exterior plazas of the Hamilton County Courthouse and the Hamilton County Justice Center, two quintessential and traditional public forums that cannot be closed to the public, and then threatening to arrest any individuals who sleep or otherwise seek repose on the steps, benches, and sidewalks surrounding these facilities.”

Southern District filings

Ohio Senate Bill 121: Mandatory sentences, not "shock probation"

The Columbus Dispatch this morning is reporting “Shock probation might be revived in Ohio,” referencing  proposed SB 121 (“Violent Career Criminal Act”), introduced by Senators Jim Hughes and Frank LaRose back in May.

  To be sure, SB 121 does not deal with “shock probation/parole,” though aspects of that were dealt with in HB 86 two years ago, becoming effective in Sept. 2011

  Senators Hughes’ and LaRose’s bill, in fact, takes an exactly opposite approach:

• doubling the mandatory prison term for an offender who is convicted of a firearm specification having been previously  convicted of a firearm specification;

• similarly double the period of authorized or mandatory commitment to the Department of Youth Services of a delinquent child who is guilty of a firearm specification and previously having been adjudicated a delinquent child for committing an act that would constitute a violation of a firearm specification if committed by an adult;

• prohibiting  violent career criminals from knowingly acquiring, having, carrying, or using any firearm or dangerous ordnance;

• and requiring a mandatory prison term for a violent career criminal convicted of committing a violent felony offense while armed with a firearm.

Text & Legislative Service's Analysis of SB 121

Bill extending availability of Epinephrine auto-injectors in Ohio public schools

 “Ohio law currently allows school nurses and student with food allergies possess and use epinephrine (adrenaline) in case of emergencies, but that’s only in the case of students with a known food allergy, “ House Representative Terry Johnson said in introducing HB 296 yesterday with Representative Mike Duffy  “If a child without that kind of standing order for the life‐saving drug has an allergic reaction, a school nurse wouldn’t legally be able to do anything but call 911 even though she or he may have a cabinet full of the stuff. That’s the problem this bill addresses. (ORC per "Possession and use of epinephrine autoinjectors" and "Food allergy protection policies")

   Kate King, president of the Ohio Association of School Nurses, stated in a press release by that group that “Some 30 states already have laws like this, and we know children’s lives have been saved by having undesignated epinephrine in schools. The Chicago school system alone used at least 25 stock epinephrine auto-injectors last year, and with the increase of food allergies among children, it is important to keep in mind that 25 percent of first time reactions happen at school.”

  The Wikipedia article on Epinephrine (also known as adrenaline or adrenalin) notes "it is used to treat a number of conditions including: cardiac arrest, anaphylaxis, and superficial bleeding, and has been used historically for bronchospasm and hypoglycemia, as well, although newer treatments for these, such as salbutamol, a synthetic epinephrine derivative, and dextrose, respectively, are currently preferred."

  HB 296 also outlines the training to be provided, the interaction with medical and school nurse professionals as well as the liability protection for the trained employees that administer the dose in a proper manner, and allows use of a program available through a manufacturer to provide up to four auto injectors at no cost to each school that applies for the doses through December 2014.

  The bill is currently im the House Education Committee.