Lawmakers OK Ohio DNA bill

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Lawmakers OK Ohio DNA bill
By Jim Siegel
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
In their final session before heading into an Easter break, Ohio lawmakers moved bills yesterday designed to improve criminal investigations, ban texting while driving and give local law enforcement more power to tackle illegal immigration.
After setting modern records this session for a lack of legislative action, the House and Senate opened the spigot and sent a number of measures to Gov. Ted Strickland, including one that would require the collection of DNA evidence from anyone arrested on a felony charge in Ohio.
Strickland is expected to sign Senate Bill 77, which also opens DNA testing to parolees. The bill also requires blind suspect lineups - where the presiding officer does not know the identity of the true suspect or can't see the picture a witness is viewing - and sets a new 30-year standard for retaining biological evidence in cases of murder and sexual assault.
The limit is five years when a defendant pleads guilty, a House-added provision that bill sponsor Sen. David Goodman, R-New Albany, opposes. "I think it's too short a period of time, and individuals will potentially have some problems down the line," he told the Senate before a final concurrence vote.
But, Goodman added, he agreed to the compromise and said it's "still a very good bill."
Sen. Timothy J. Grendell, R-Chesterland, cast the only "no" vote, arguing that the legislature should not be telling police how to conduct lineups.
Meanwhile, the House took another step toward making Ohio the 21st state to approve some form of a ban on texting while driving. The bill makes the act a primary offense, meaning law enforcement can stop someone just for texting, subjecting the driver to a maximum $150 fine.
"What we ultimately have here is a bill that will save lives," said Rep. Nancy Garland, D-New Albany, a joint sponsor of the bill.
Garland recalled the day the family of her son's best friend came to her and asked when the bill would pass. The youth's uncle was killed the week the bill was introduced, when he crossed a centerline as he was texting while driving.
Rep. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, one of 12 House members to vote against the bill, said it goes too far. He said it should focus on banning all electronic devices, but just for drivers ages 16 to 21.
"This bill doesn't prohibit all dangerous activity, and does prohibit dangerous activity to folks who are skillful enough, quite frankly, to do this," he said.
The bill now goes to the Senate. Garland said a statewide ban is preferable to the patchwork of laws in various municipalities.
Since Bexley became the first city in central Ohio to ban texting while driving last year, several other communities have been considering the idea. Officials in Canal Winchester, Hilliard, Johnstown, New Albany and Pickerington have taken a look at texting legislation, although several have backed off, waiting to see what happens at the state level.
Back in the Senate, the chamber held a lengthy debate over two bills aimed at authorizing local law enforcement to assist in enforcing federal immigration laws and allowing for special training and agreements with the U.S. attorney general.
The bills would let local law enforcement "finally do something about this increasing problem while the federal government continues to do very little," said Sen. Jimmy Stewart, R-Athens.
A number of Democrats criticized the measures, which passed mostly along party lines. "Addressing this grand problem with a micro scale will not solve the problem," said Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo.
Sen. Ray Miller, D-Columbus, said the issue seems simple - break the law and get punished. "That's logical; however, our laws must be clear and consistent, and right now they are not." He also recalled his own experiences with racial profiling.
But Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, stressed that the bills would require special federal training if officers want to participate, "so we don't have some latter-day Barney Fife running around apprehending people solely on suspicion of looking Hispanic."
County sheriffs are largely neutral on the bill. A representative of the statewide sheriffs' organization said the vast majority of departments don't have the money or manpower to deal with immigration issues.
Both bills now move to the House.
In other legislative business:
• Both chambers finished House Bill 48, which would provide up to two weeks of unpaid leave to parents and spouses of soldiers who are wounded or called up for active duty. It also brings Ohio in line with federal laws making it easier for military and overseas voters to cast ballots, and implements the veterans bonus program passed by voters in November.
• Both chambers finished House Bill 313, which would permit Franklin and 40 other counties to operate land banks designed to allow for faster turnaround of foreclosed properties.
• The House passed House Bill 377, aimed at bringing more integrity to the process of collecting signatures to place issues on the statewide ballot.
Dispatch reporter Elizabeth Gibson contributed to this story.
jsiegel@dispatch.com
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live...s&cat=&sid=101