OH: Libertarian Party Opposes Expanded Police Discretionary Powers

Sent to TPID via email from the Libertarian Party of Ohio:

The Libertarian Party of Ohio disagrees with the recent conclusion of the Ohio State Supreme Court in determining that an officer’s estimation of a vehicle’s speed should be enough evidence to support a speeding conviction. Since the 18th Century, Western Courts have set the burden of proof in the hands of the accuser and the burden of proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt for a criminal conviction. Taking away an efficient and effective tool that has been in place since the 1950s in America to assist law enforcement in their difficult and noble professions, the Ohio State Supreme Court has just reduced the burden of proof to an oral statement provided after a visual estimation and for the first time in American history, the burden shifts now to the accuser to prove oneself innocent.


While the Ohio Police Officers Training Academy offers training to help law enforcement estimate the speed of vehicular travel, the training itself allows for a margin of error that would not suffice as proof in any other form of criminal conviction. Furthermore, depending on the officer, the training might have occurred decades ago while radar equipment is continually calibrated and replaced ensuring its useful role in aiding law enforcement.

As noted by the Lorain County Libertarian Party, “this nation’s Bill of Rights takes great pains in ensuring for its citizen concepts such as search warrants, trials by jury, reasonable bail, due process of law, and speedy trials. It seems counter intuitive that the founders would allow a system that would allow officers best estimation of the facts be the convicting evidence against one of their citizens, especially when much more reliable means of speed detection are readily available. There may be a reason radar guns are used instead of umpires to determine the speed of a pitch.”

The Libertarian Party of Ohio is the third largest political party in Ohio, and the only one dedicated to the principles of smaller, limited government, lower taxes, and more personal liberty for the residents of the State of Ohio.  The Libertarian Party of Ohio has the same vision as the Libertarian Party, which is “for a world in which all individuals can freely exercise the natural right of sole dominion over their own lives, liberty and property by building a political party that elects Libertarians to public office, and moving public policy in a libertarian direction.” For more information, visit http://www.lpo.org.