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Our First Amendment rights are still under
attack, Friend.
Since the passage of Ohio Senate
Bill 33 last session, protesting pipelines, fracking wells, power
plants, and other “critical
infrastructure sites” became much harder. Now, among a suite of four
similar bills, House Bill 109 was introduced to infringe on our First
Amendment rights even further. Ohio Citizen Action strongly opposes this
ill-conceived and unnecessary legislation.
HB 109 (Rep. Cindy Abrams-R), the so-called Ohio
Law and Order Act, degrades
the ability of Ohioans to peacefully protest and even creates higher
fines and prison time for individuals involved in and organizations
supporting a protest where action is subjectively deemed a
“riot.”
In addition, the legislation allows
peace officers to bring civil suits against people participating in a
"riot." As you might know, 93% of protests across the country from May 2020 to August
2020 were neither violent nor destructive, and there have been no
fatalities in Ohio.
The goal of HB 109 is not
protection, but suppression
Bottom line: Ohio Citizen
Action supports the peoples’ right to peacefully assemble and speak
for or against pressing issues in our state. HB 109 unnecessarily
interferes with the protest process in Ohio, and must be
stopped.
Opponent testimony on HB 109 was held Thursday, June 24.
It was added to the
committee's agenda Tuesday evening, with a 9:00 am Wednesday deadline
for all testimony. We find it ironic but not surprising that
the Ohio legislature scheduled an opponent hearing for
an anti-protest bill with so little notice. Clearly they aren't interested in legitimate
protest of this bill, either. Regardless, numerous opponents to HB 109 spoke out and worked to
protect our free speech in Ohio.
As of now, it is unclear how or
when HB 109 will move forward, but the legislature is certainly
working to pile bills into committee before they recess on June 30.
Our representatives NEED to hear from you as soon and
as often as possible.
We need you to voice your
opposition to HB 109 today! Call your state
representative. You can find your representative's phone number
here or call 1-800-282-0253 to get their number. Urge
them to vote against the chilling of our free
speech: NO on HB 109!
Thanks for speaking out,
Ohio
Citizen
Action
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