Same-sex ban is affecting Ohio DV law

A constitutional amendment passed by Ohio voters in 2004 that banned same-sex marriages is having an unintended consequence, The Associated Press reported May 26.

An appellate court has ruled that the state's domestic violence laws define legal relationships in a manner that conflicts with the marriage amendment, and therefore, crimes of domestic violence that fall outside legal marriages cannot be prosecuted in the same way.

Woa...so only married batterers can be prosecuted? A large number of DV cases are non-marital and because of Ohio's hate-law against gays, victims of domestic violence are in extreme danger--including victims of same-sex violence. Now they have absolutely NO protection, because hey...they are butt sinners anyway.

One fallout from the ruling came with the court's decision to throw out the conviction of Logan County resident Dallas McKinley, who received a six-month jail sentence and five years probation in December 2004 after hitting his girlfriend and throwing objects at her, the Lima News reported May 24.

Reversing the judgment, however, the court said that the domestic violence law could no longer apply to the case. McKinley now may only be retried on a misdemeanor assault charge because he wasn't married to the victim.

Logan County's prosecutor will appeal the decision to the state's high court, but until a ruling comes individual counties will interpret the amendment's provisions differently.

Until the high court's ruling, nearby Greene County prosecutor Suzanne Schmidt said, "Unmarried defendants who would have faced felony domestic violence charges will be charged with misdemeanor assault charges."