Elected Democrat Prosecutor in Cuyahoga County Blasts Ohio Supreme Court Ruling for Allowing Accused Murderers to Walk Free

CLEVELAND, OH—Investigative reporters from Cleveland’s Fox8 recently set out to answer a disturbing question: why are so many accused violent criminals walking the streets on ankle monitors before trial?

The answers Fox8 reporters uncovered are disturbing. The facts also show why observers show Ohio voters will overwhelmingly pass State Issue 1 and vote to elect three Ohio Republicans to the Ohio Supreme Court this November.

As part of the report, Fox8 highlighted the disturbing trend of accused murderers and other violent criminals being released from jail with only an ankle monitor. The story details how one of the men released on electronic monitoring, after being arrested for murder, later murdered another person in front of children.

The reporters also asked Democrat Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley what he thought was behind the disturbing trend of accused murderers walking the street. Fox8 quoted O’Malley saying, “Regretfully the Ohio Supreme Court has issued the DuBose v. McGuffey opinion which states that courts cannot consider public safety when setting a bond. Hopefully, this illogical decision will be corrected on the November ballot by State Issue 1, which is a constitutional amendment that will allow judges to consider public safety when setting a bond.”

“When an elected Democrat prosecutor blames a Supreme Court decision joined by Jennifer Brunner and endorsed by Marilyn Zayas for allowing accused murderers to walk free and commit more crimes, you know that the Democrat candidates for Supreme Court are out of touch with reality,” Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Paduchik said.

Dubose v. McGuffey, the Supreme Court decision criticized by Prosecutor O’Malley, was a 4-3 decision that said judges in Ohio could never consider factors like the safety of the community or the victim when setting the amount of bail for someone charged with violent crimes like murder or rape. Democrat Jennifer Brunner was one of the four justices who voted in favor of the decision. Justices Pat DeWine, Pat Fischer, and Sharon Kennedy voted against the decision. Judge Marilyn Zayas, running against Justice DeWine, told the Cincinnati Enquirer in April that she agreed with Brunner and would have voted with her had she been on the court.

State Issue 1, an Ohio Constitutional Amendment, was placed on the November ballot by the General Assembly to give Ohio voters the ability to overturn the Brunner decision in Dubose and allow judges to keep violent criminals in jail where they can’t hurt other people.

“Both State Issue 1 and all three Republican Supreme Court candidates are going to win big in November,” Paduchik continued. “Ohioans want safety and security for their families, and they don’t want to worry about accused murderers walking the street with only an ankle monitor to stop them from killing someone else. Democrats couldn’t be more wrong on this issue.”

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