COLUMBUS, Ohio — After Issue 1's failure last week in the August special election, a group filed a petition to end qualified immunity in the state.
There is an election this November, but Kyle Pierce, the executive director of the Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity, said they are focused on November 2024.
"If we don't turn that protest into policy nothing is going to happen,” said Pierce.
The proposed amendment would end immunity for government employees, like prosecutors and police officers. This immunity offers protection from lawsuits. 10 Investigates has previously reported on how the city uses the state's immunity law to deny paying for damages in crashes involving police.
"Having a government accountable to the people is a very basic fundamental American idea,” he said.
Brian Steel, executive vice president of the Columbus chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said ending qualified immunity would have major ramifications.
"It would be virtually impossible to do this job if you strip this legal protection,” said Steel.
Steel said qualified immunity protects officers from harassment.
“There is this perceived notion that officers act with impunity and have no legal ramifications,” said Steel. “As long as the officer acts within the 4th amendment and does not violate someone's civil rights, they have this qualified immunity".
Pierce said they’ve submitted the 1,000 signatures to the Attorney General’s Office for approval. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office has already denied this twice in the past. If it is approved, the group needs to collect 420,000 signatures for it to be included on the 2024 November ballot.
"With the defeat of issue 1, we're confident that we'll get this on the ballot,” said Pierce.