Marsy's Law

Are police officers who defend themselves in officer-involved shootings victims of a crime? 

Anyone who knows me knows my response would be "yes" (in most cases). But my opinion doesn't really matter. On the other hand, when a court says they are, people will pay attention. 

The Ohio Supreme Court answered the question affirmatively today in State ex rel. GateHouse Media Ohio Holdings II, Inc. v. Columbus Police Department, Slip Opinion No. 2025-Ohio-5243. I've included the full opinion below.

The facts of the case are relatively straightforward. After spotting a vehicle matching the description of a car involved in an armed robbery, two Columbus, OH, officers initiated a pursuit. The car stopped in the middle of I-70, and two occupants ran off. One of the officers gave chase, only to be confronted by a third occupant who shot five times at that officer. Both officers returned fire, killing the suspect. The first officer underwent multiple surgeries and survived.

The Dispatch, a local newspaper, submitted a public records request to the police department ("CPD") for video footage of the shooting. The CPD eventually released redacted footage from body-worn cameras, concealing the officers' identities pursuant to several exemptions, including Ohio's Victim Privacy Law, enacted after the passage of Marsy's Law in 2017. 

Marsy's Law is a movement to pass state constitutional amendments that enhance the rights of crime victims. Twelve states - California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin - have some version of Marsy's Law.

The Dispatch sought a court order to require CPD to release unredacted video of the shooting incident. 

The Ohio Supreme Court held that under Marsy's Law, the involved officers were victims, "person[s] against whom" a criminal act is committed. The Court found that because the shooter committed a criminal act when he shot at the officers, they were victims. Ohio's Victim Privacy Law, adopting the same definition as Marsy's Law, allows a crime victim to request that identifying information be removed from case records before being released to the public.

The Court stated, “[a]pplying the plain text of the amendment, we have no difficulty concluding that an ordinary understanding of Marsy’s Law’s definition of victim encompasses the officers in this case.”

Laura Scarry