House Bill 281 (as advanced by House Civil Justice Committee) devastates crime victims.

Principal sponsor Rep. Bill Seitz introduced HB 281, which seeks to gut R.C. 2307.60—the statute that allows crime victims of crime to obtain civil remedies from the perpetrators.

Contrary to current law, the bill would prevent a crime victim from filing a civil action against the perpetrator of a crime unless the perpetrator has first been charged with, prosecuted for, and convicted of that crime, and all appeals have been exhausted.

This would overturn our law firm's unanimous 2020 Ohio Supreme Court victory in Buddenberg v. Weisdack, which held that R.C. 2307.60 does not require the perpetrator of a crime to be criminally charged or convicted, to be civilly liable to the crime victim for harm inflicted.

ACT NOW by contacting your legislator and Ohio House and Senate leadership: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/ And leave a voicemail for Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, asking him to put a stop to this craziness. Ohio's General Assembly should not be trying to hurt crime victims and take rights away from them: Phone: (614) 466-1366

While the bill was amended so that victims of domestic violence, stalking, and a handful of other sexually oriented offenses can sue without criminal charges or convictions, it doesn’t cover all of those potential crimes (like RAPE) and leaves out far-too-many crime victims. This bill is totally unnecessary and is PRO-CRIMINAL AND ANTI-CRIME VICTIM!

The bill was advanced through the House Civil Justice Committee on a party-line vote, with all Democratic members opposing it. The bill’s amended version, which a coalition of victim advocacy, women’s advocacy, and workers’ rights groups still oppose, makes exceptions for a small number of specific crimes, but imposes barriers on civil remedies for victims of dozens of other harmful crimes.

For instance, victims of criminal civil-rights violations, employees who are punished at work or lose their jobs because the employer is retaliating against or obstructing a criminal investigation, and children who are subjected to numerous forms of sexual abuse would only be able to sue their perpetrators if they are successfully prosecuted.

Because most of these crimes are underenforced or difficult to prosecute, and because criminal convictions require a much higher standard of proof than civil lawsuits, this would prevent many crime victims from obtaining remedies through R.C. 2307.60. And crime victims can’t get restitution for the devastating emotional harm they’ve experienced through the criminal-justice process.

Here is the list of crimes whose victims would be stripped of their rights to obtain civil justice by the bill as it was advanced through the Civil Justice Committee:

2905.05 Child enticement

2907.321 Pandering obscenity w/ a minor

2907.322 Sexual pandering w/ a minor

2907.323 Illegal use of a minor

2913.04 Unauthorized Use of Property

2917.21 Telecommunications harassment

2921.05 Retaliation

2921.32 Obstruction of justice

2921.44 Dereliction of duty

2921.45 Interfering with civil rights

2927.12 Ethnic intimidation

2921.12 Tampering with evidence

2913.42 Tampering with records

2913.02 Theft

2921.02 Bribery

2913.05 Telecommunications fraud

2917.01 Inciting to violence

2921.31 Obstruction of official business

2919.23 Interference with custody

2919.231 Interfering with support order

2919.24 Contributing to delinquency

2927.03 Interfering with housing rights

2903.13 Assault

2903.15 Permitting child abuse

2903.34 Patient abuse or neglect

2907.02 Rape

2907.04 Unlawful sexual conduct w/ minor

2905.11 Extortion

2905.12 Coercion

2905.01 Kidnapping

2905.02 Abduction

2905.03 Unlawful restraint

2909.06 Criminal damaging

2917.02 Aggravated riot

2917.03 Riot

2917.14 Impeding emergency responder

2917.31 Inducing panic

2917.32 Making false alarms

2917.321 Swatting

And all federal statutes and local ordinances

Word clouds of the crimes for which HB 281 strips crime victims of their rights.

This bill may advance fast because of the anti-crime-victims and pro-political corruption agenda of some in the legislature. Email and call your legislators and the legislative leadership and demand they stop this bill. Find their contact information here:

https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/

This post was adapted from an explainer from advocacy groups.

Led by former federal prosecutor Subodh Chandra, Chandra Law is experienced obtaining justice for crime victims, including initiating charges under R.C. 2935.09. The firm also helped pioneer work in holding individuals and companies accountable for civil liability for criminal acts, securing the two leading Supreme Court of Ohio decisions favorable to crime victims on the topic.

If you think that your civil rights have been violated, you may contact us to discuss your options.

At Chandra Law, your case is our cause.®