Court sides on behalf of oil and gas industry allies, keeps qualified initiatives off ballot. Justice J. O’Neill dissents, arguing for the people’s right to local self-government.
A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from September 13, 2016.
Columbus, Ohio: Today, the Ohio Supreme Court, in a 6:1 decision, struck a blow to the people’s democratic right to initiative and self-governance. The Court refused to place duly qualified county charter measures on the ballot in Athens, Meigs, and Portage Counties. The measures included bans on fracking activities.
Justice J. O’Neill wrote a clear dissent, arguing that the people’s right to create their own form of government is being unjustly quashed:
“The secretary of state does not have the power to veto charter petitions on behalf of the oil and gas industry simply because the citizens did not pick exclusively from the two forms of county government delineated in R.C. 302.02.3 This is a usurpation of power from the people that we should not indulge.”. …
To read the entire Press Release, click HERE.