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 Unanimous Decision Lifts the Ban on Same-Sex Flirting Jogger's Complaint about Cruiser Violated Free Speech |
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Compiled By GayToday Columbus, Ohio--The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state's importuning (soliciting) law, which criminalizes expressions of sexual interest between people of the same sex, is unconstitutional.
The Ohio Supreme Court In a unanimous decision, Ohio's highest court ruled that the law violates the Equal Protection clauses of the United States and Ohio Constitutions. Lambda Legal submitted a friend of the court brief with the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Ohio Human Rights Bar Association, arguing that the law violated guarantees of equal protection and free speech, and needed to be taken off the books. Under the Ohio statute, it was a first-degree misdemeanor for someone to make a sexual advance toward a person of the same sex, should that advance be found offensive. The penalty could include up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. The law covered advances that involve nothing more than words, but only if the words are directed at somebody of the same sex.
Thompson was charged and convicted of violating the importuning law and sentenced to six months in jail; he appealed. The State's Eleventh District Court of Appeals found that the law violates equal protection rights, but it upheld the law and Thompson's conviction based on a prior ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court. Ashtabula County Public Defender Marie Lane represented Thompson at trial and on appeal. |
