Ohio Attorney General Repeatedly Rejects Initiative, 'Likely Violating' Ohioans' First Amendment Rights
Brief Overview:
A federal court found that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost “likely violated” Ohioans First Amendment rights in a four-year attempt to block a citizen-led ballot initiative that would end qualified immunity for government officials, namely law enforcement, from being considered by Ohio voters.
Proponents:
Opposed by:
Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity
Attorney General Dave Yost
vs.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost rejected the proposed summary eight times.
That means petitioners had to collect the requisite initial 1,000 signatures a total of eight times. (Once for each submission.) [Source]
QCEQI brought its complaint to the Ohio Supreme Court, but the court declined to expedite its consideration of the case, preventing the campaign from collecting signatures in time for its preferred election.
OCEQI then challenged Yost’s repeated rejections in federal court, which further extended the process but ultimately led the courts to require Yost to approve the petition.
A citizen-led group called Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity (OCEQI) has been collecting signatures to place a constitutional amendment on an upcoming ballot that would eliminate qualified immunity protections for government officials and contractors, most notably law enforcement.
If successful, the amendment would enable people to sue government employees for violating their constitutional rights and to hold government entities liable for violations by their employees.
Currently, qualified immunity protects government officials from civil lawsuits unless the challenger can prove a constitutional right was violated and also show courts have previously ruled the same conduct unconstitutional.
Supporters of ending qualified immunity believe the current standards are too high, limit accountability for government officials, and prevent victims from receiving the compensation they deserve when their rights are violated.
Supporters of keeping qualified immunity believe it is a necessary protection for government officials (such as law enforcement) who must make critical decisions quickly.
vs.
What’s next
The Coalition initially targeted the November 2024 ballot, but rejections and court challenges significantly delayed the process.
Left with only 2 months from Yost’s court-required approval to collect the roughly 420,000 signatures needed to get the petition on the November 2025 ballot, the group is now aiming to get it on the ballot in November 2026.
[Source & Source]
OCEQI will begin collecting signatures in May 2026.
Timeline of the initiative:
What happened
Date(s)
Petitioners begin collecting initial signatures for the ballot initiative and submit the signatures and proposed summary to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
2022
Yost rejects the proposed summary eight times. OCEQI restarts the process each time, collecting signatures again and resubmitting updated language.
2022-2024
OCEQI leadership challenges Yost’s failure to certify the petition in the Ohio Supreme Court. The Ohio Supreme Court refuses to require that Yost certify the petition.
OCEQI leadership shifts course and sues Yost in federal court, saying the certification requirements and lack of timely judicial review from the Ohio Supreme Court violated their First Amendment rights. The court refused to intervene.
March 2024
In response to OCEQI’s appeal, a federal court panel reverses the earlier decision, saying Yost likely violated the group’s First Amendment rights by forcing them to change the content of their petition summaries and limiting their ability to communicate about the petition with the public. The federal court panel orders Yost to certify the proposed amendment and the most recent summary of the proposal. [Source]
Yost seeks a rehearing, which the court grants.
May 30, 2024
Meanwhile, OCEQI resubmitted a new proposed summary to Yost, accepting his latest edits and removing a title he previously disputed. In turn, Yost rejects the new proposed summary for not having a title.
OCEQI leadership again sues in the Ohio Supreme Court, which once more refuses to expedite its consideration of the case. (In an unrelated case at the same time, the state court rules that the state attorney general doesn’t have the authority to review the titles of proposed ballot initiatives.)
July 2024
Yost approves the title-less summary, moving it to the state ballot board, which determines that the proposal covers just one issue and is cleared to move forward.
These moves give OCEQI the necessary approvals to start collecting the roughly 420,000 signatures required to get the petition on the November 2025 ballot for Ohio voters to consider.
However, OCEQI leadership tells the court they are concerned that the title-less petition could later face challenges to its legal validity for lack of a title. They also express concern that the legal process wasn’t giving them enough time to collect the required signatures to get the proposal on the November 2025 ballot.
December 2024
In response, a district court requires Yost to immediately certify OCEQI leadership’s preferred version of the summary and prevent him from applying the “fair and truthful” requirement, saying Yost’s actions likely violated the group’s First Amendment rights
March 14, 2025
A federal appeals court agreed with the district court, finding that Yost “exercised significant editorial control” over the content of the petition, likely violating OCEQ's First Amendment rights.
Further, the court determined that the version of the petition OCEQI sought to circulate was no more likely to mislead potential signatories than the one Yost finally approved after the eight rounds of changes. (In other words, any changes that were needed did not justify the extent of review that the summary was subject to.)
April 9, 2025
Yost approves an earlier version of the petition, which includes a title, after the U.S. Supreme Court denies his appeal to block the lower court’s ruling. If he had succeeded, Yost would have been able to prevent the summary and petition from being approved and allowed to advance in the certification process.
OCEQI is left with just two (2) months from the conclusion of the legal battle to meet the early July 2025 deadline to get the roughly 420,000 signatures required to put the initiative on the November 2025 ballot so Ohioans can vote on it.
OCEQI is now targeting the November 2026 election.
April 22, 2025
