For nearly two years, the village of Brice has operated a camera-based system of citing drivers for speeding violations without going through Franklin County Municipal Court, an apparent violation of state law.
The village, surrounded by Columbus on the Southeast Side, has continued for the past year to issue the speeding tickets and collect thousands of dollars in fines in what appears to be defiance of an Ohio Supreme Court ruling.
A recent graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law is now the latest individual to challenge the practice.
Alexander Maxwell, unlike the majority of motorists who have been ticketed for speeding in Brice, had the advantage of three years in law school under his belt when he got a notice of violation in the mail from the village in December.
He turned 60 this month.
Friends and colleagues remembered his kindness, his dry sense of humor, his “steady hand at the wheel” as part of the elections board, and his impact politically and in the legal profession.
“He gave sage advice,” said David Payne, deputy director of the county board of elections, who first met Sinnott more than 30 years ago. “He was a great legal mind, he was a great political mind.”
Josh Jaffe, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party Executive Committee, called Sinnott a practical conservative who has had an enormous impact on Republican politics in this state and in central Ohio for decades… He’s been one of the people who has shaped Ohio Republican politics over the last 40 years.”
ACLU sues Ohio Parole Board over confidential letters from victims’ families in hearing process
Updated 3:36 PM;
CLEVELAND, Ohio Civil-rights advocates say the Ohio Parole Board unfairly allows confidential letters written by victims’ family members to play a role in the panel’s decisions on whether to grant prisoners parole.
As a result, inmates and their lawyers cannot challenge the letters or dispute their contents. Advocates say the practice hinders prisoners’ chances for release.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Ohio Justice & Policy Center filed suit Thursday against the board and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
The lawsuit cites the cases of two inmates convicted of murder whom the board initially deemed suitable for release. They later were rejected based on letters and information from the victims’ family members, according to the lawsuit.