Cleveland Law Library Weblog

Jury Duty Explained In Videos Provided By The Ohio Supreme Court

The Ohio Supreme Court has provided the courts of Ohio with educational videos that can be utilized to inform people who have been summoned for jury duty of their role in the judicial system. One video describes the jury process for criminal and civil trials (petit juries), while the other video describes the jury process for a grand jury. Both videos begin and conclude with remarks by Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy of the Ohio Supreme Court.

The video for petit juries provides a description of the Ohio court system and the jury selection process. Jurors will learn about the different stages they will experience, common terms used in a courtroom, courtroom rules, and expected behavior. Jurors will also gain insight into the structure of Ohio courts such as the roles of each court staff member. Jurors will gain a better understanding of court procedures and their overall role as a juror.

The video for grand juries provides an explanation on the responsibilities of a grand jury. The video repeatedly advises jurors that they will not find someone guilty or innocent; instead, they will be determining if there’s enough evidence to charge the accused. Those watching the video will gain better knowledge of the history of the grand jury, including their oath of secrecy. This video also provides jurors with common terms and phrases that may be used in court. 

Each video was produced by the Ohio Judicial Conference, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Supreme Court of Ohio and Ohio Government Telecommunications. The videos can be found on the Ohio Channel’s website. Their overall goals for each video are to provide an educational resource for the judges and courtrooms in Ohio and to better inform the public on the importance of jurors in the judicial system.

Law Library Insights- Episode 1

Our podcast is LIVE! Please check out Law Library Insights to learn more about the upcoming Ohio election and Issue 1. Election day is Tuesday, November 8th.

CMBA Movie Night: I AM EVIDENCE, April 10, 2019

Produced by Mariska Hargitay of Law & Order: SVU,  the documentary I AM EVIDENCE tells the story of four survivors whose rape kits went untested for years.

Focusing on three American cities, Detroit, Cleveland & Los Angeles, the film reveals the historic nature of the way the  crime of sexual assault is treated in this country, aw well as the positive effects that occur when perpetrators are held accountable and survivors are given an opportunity for healing and justice.

Join our friends at the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association for 1 hour of CLE, refreshments, networking and a showing of the movie I AM EVIDENCE.

Additional information is available on their website: https://clemetrobar.org/CMBA_P…/CMBA/Events/Movie_Night.aspx

U.S. Code Gets a New Title 34 (Crime Control and Law Enforcement)

The United States Code now has a new Title 34. Although Title 34 has been empty since 1956, it is now captioned Crime Control and Law Enforcement. However, there is no new content. It is simply a reorganization of content that was previously contained in Titles 18 (Crimes and Criminal Procedure), 28 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure), and 42 (The Public Health and Welfare). If you were looking for where the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1978 went, it was moved to Title 34. For more information on what moved to Title 34, see the Office of Law Revision Counsel's Summary.

Ohio Supreme Court Adopts Amendments to its Rules of Practice

Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court announced the that it had adopted various amendments to the rules that govern how cases are filed and proceed before the Court. A Press Release from the Court summarized the changes as follows:

• Rule 2.02 – Pro Hac Vice Admission – Clarifies the requirement that out-of-state attorneys must file a motion for admission before being deemed to have made an appearance in a case.
• Rule 3.02 – Filing Electronic Documents by E-mail – Eliminates filing by email because attorneys and self-represented litigants can file electronically through the Court’s e-filing portal.
• Rule 4.06 – Substitution of Parties – Directs parties on how to proceed when substituting a party is required.
• Rule 11.06 – Applications for Reopening in Death-Penalty Cases – Increases to 15 the page limit for applications and requires specific citations to the record.
• Rules 16.08 and 17.08 – Modifies the rules to permit filing a citation to relevant authority less than seven days before oral argument if the authority was issued within that timeframe.

Click here for the text of the amendments.

Ohio Supreme Court Adopts a Lot of Changes to Protection Order Forms and Corresponding Rule

The Ohio Supreme Court has adopted changes to Superintendence Rule 10.03 (governing civil and criminal protection orders) and 30 protection order forms. According to the Supreme Court's news release, these changes and the new forms will go into effect on March 1st and include the following changes:

• encouraging law enforcement to enter promptly properly issued protection orders into the FBI’s protection order database and firearms disability database
• placing in a prominent position the no abuse term in the protection order, as this is the most distinguishable characteristic of a protection order,
• underscoring the importance of providing an address that does not compromise the petitioner’s safety to receive correspondence from the court,
• expanding references to social media to clarify the no contact provision in the order,
• articulating that law enforcement officers and U.S. Armed Forces members may be exempt from firearms disability because of their jobs,
• clarifying the weapons surrender term in the order and return procedures,
• indicating the new judicial review standard for protection order proceedings before a magistrate,
• and revising the forms consistent with the no fee prohibition in last year’s reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

National Pro Bono Week Is In Full Swing Here in Cleveland with Many Programs, Including Foreclosures, Expungements, Elder Law, Pro Se Divorce and Immigration

National Pro Bono Week is in full swing here in Cleveland with many programs sponsored by the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and others. The full schedule of events occurring in Northeast Ohio has been posted by the Legal Aid Society. Highlights of this week's events include programs on foreclosures, expungements, elder law, pro se divorce, and immigration/naturalization.

Ohio Supreme Court Requests Comments on Proposed Changes to the Rules of Practice and Procedure (appellate, civil, criminal, juvenile and evidence)

The Ohio Supreme Court is requesting comments until November 13th on proposed changes to the Rules of Practice and Procedure, including appellate, civil, criminal, juvenile and evidence rules. According to the Court's news release,

"The proposed amendments concern changes to the rules of  appellate procedure, civil procedure, criminal procedure, juvenile procedure  and the Ohio Rules of Evidence.

Many of the proposed changes target inconsistencies, allow  for electronic means of service, remove outdated concepts, or move certain  rules to other sections that make more sense. There are, however, a few substantive  changes to existing rules.

• Proposed amendments to Civ. R. 4.4 and Juv. R. 16 would       make it clear that service by posting can be used in initial actions and       expand it to post-decree matters. In addition to the traditional “posting”       of a notice on the courthouse bulletin board, service would use the county       clerk of court’s website if it exists, although the amendments don’t       require electronic posting.
• Amendments to Civ. R. 10(D)(2) and Evid. R. 601 seek to       enhance the affidavit of merit requirement and clarify who qualifies as an       expert in a medical claim. The amendments distinguish between medical       malpractice cases and other medical, dental, optometric or chiropractic       claims. An amendment to Evid. R. 601 would require experts to have devoted       three-quarters of their professional time to active clinical practice at       the time of the event giving rise to the claim."

Click here to follow the link to view the text of the proposed amendments and for the address for the submission of comments.  Assuming no problems or changes occur, these proposed amendments would go into effect on July 1, 2013.

New Changes to Federal Criminal and Bankruptcy Rules Coming 12/1/12

According to a press release from our local federal district court, "the U.S. Supreme Court has approved and transmitted to Congress amendments to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure that will take effect on December 1, 2012 unless Congress takes action to reject, modify or defer them." Changes to the Federal Criminal Rules include:

• Criminal Rule 5 (specifies the place of the initial
  appearance for a defendant extradited to the U.S.)
• Criminal Rule 15 (authorizes the taking of
  depositions outside of the U.S. without the defendant being present in limited
  circumstances)
• Criminal Rule 37 (new rule articulating procedures
  for obtaining an indicative ruling)

Click here for information on these changes and changes to the Bankruptcy Rules.