OACDL Oral Testimony Regarding SB 55
Dear OACDL Membership,
This legislative session, OACDL delivered oral testimony before the Ohio House Judiciary Committee as a proponent of S.B. 55, which seeks to reform Ohio’s OVI-marijuana law.
S.B. 55 was originally crafted by OACDL members in conjunction with the Ohio State Bar Association and Senator Nathan Manning, the primary sponsor. The Bill seeks to reform current laws governing OVI-marijuana offenses to make the current extremely broad OVI-marijuana ‘per se’ laws less likely to ensnare innocent people, more scientifically reliable, and more fair. While the Bill is a compromise bill, it represents a vast improvement over current law. Senator Manning has worked tirelessly to bring interested parties together to make a number of changes to the bill, which led to its unanimous passage in October.
On Feb. 18, OACDL member Bryan Hawkins delivered in-person testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in support of the bill. Bryan explained to the legislators how current law permits someone who has not consumed marijuana for weeks to be convicted of OVI based on an inert substance in their blood. He also explained how the current legal regime permits wrongful OVI charges based solely upon an inactive waste product in a person’s urine, a problem alleviated by S.B. 55’s elimination of OVI per se charges based solely upon a urine test. Bryan explained how the bill provides a much-needed opportunity for an accused person to rebut the presumption that they were under the influence of marijuana when it is based solely upon the presence of THC metabolites in urine or oral fluids. Bryan closed by re-emphasizing the important fairness and due process benefits to Ohioans that the bill will bring about.
Attached is a copy of the Bill itself, as well as the Ohio Legislative Service Commission’s legislative analysis, and below are some pictures of Bryan in action! We look forward to continuing to advocate before the Legislature on criminal justice issues important to OACDL’s membership, and to all of our clients.