Duane Casares wants to restore Kimberly Parkway, a neighborhood on the southeast side of Columbus that surrounds the old Eastland Mall. “Kimberly has a terrible infant mortality problem and a high eviction rate. Many of its residents live at the federal poverty level ($26,200 for a family of four), are there are no youth-oriented services—libraries, […]
To restore Kimberly Parkway, we need human services first Read Post »
If you have 13 children by nine women and fall behind on your child support payments, can a court order you to not have more children? A trial court in Lorain County, Ohio, thought it had the power to do so, and the appellate court agreed. Now it’s up to the Ohio Supreme Court to
Can a court order you to not have children? Read Post »
You can determine the opportunities a Franklin County child will likely have by his neighborhood. Social determinants like health, education and incarceration rates are indicators for success and portend a bleak future for many neighborhoods. What’s to be done? First, let’s look at the numbers. If you live in Upper Arlington, your life expectancy is
A neighborhood’s resources determine future of its children Read Post »
Prostitution and trafficking trap countless women in a life of misery and subjugation. For those who lead comfortable lives, it’s a distant—if even recognized—problem. But it’s right here in Columbus, Ohio, and it’s widespread and destructive. To get a sense for the problem, listen to the podcast Lawyer Up, where lawyers John Gonzales and Jack
Restoring women trapped in prostitution Read Post »
Are religious freedoms under attack? Gays have the right to marry. The U.S. Supreme Court has left open the question whether a baker must decorate a wedding cake and a florist must provide floral arrangements to be used at gay weddings, and the court is now deciding whether employers can discriminate against LGBTQ employees. Can
LGTBQ rights pose no threat to religious freedom Read Post »
How governments prioritize expenditures is sometimes a head-scratcher. An example is the city of Columbus’ decision to invest millions in a new soccer stadium, while a segment of the west side continues to decay. Two weeks ago, the Columbus Dispatch ran a three-day series, “Suffering on Sullivant,” about a three mile stretch of Sullivant Avenue
New stadium scores over economic blight Read Post »
We want them to protect us and maintain law and order. We authorize them to use force, lethal, if necessary, and we expect them to get it right every time. And when the police err, we get angry. We’ve seen a number of police shootings nationwide, and the shootings that cause us concern often involve
Culture of accountability crucial for police Read Post »
Is the nation’s and Ohio’s poverty rate an inescapable fact of life or one we choose to ignore? The breadth of the problem is inescapable: 16.7 percent of Franklin County residents live at the poverty level—$25,100 annual income for a family of four—and the poverty rate has increased in every large Ohio city from 1999
Eliminating poverty requires new paradigm, mindset Read Post »
The Dow Jones has been on the rise, and the unemployment rate is 3.8 percent. The economy is humming, but is everyone benefitting? It depends on where you stand on the economic ladder. Let’s take a look, starting at the top. Wealth at the top is increasing. According to the Spectrum Group, the number of
The economic boom hasn’t benefited everyone Read Post »
Do you think at all about where to find God in your life? I do, and I struggle to find him, but some politicians make it look easy. A select number claim to know what God wants, based on what must be a direct line to the Heavens which the rest of us will likely
God likes guns, and Trump is biblical–Really? Read Post »
Last month’s vote on the national emergency resolution gave me pause to think about courage. We admire those who display it and criticize those who don’t. We like to give a pat on the back to those who show courage under fire, whether it be combat or the pressures of the business world. Show me
The lesson we can learn from the moral failures of others Read Post »
Jeffrey Epstein, a Miami hedge fund manager, and Kevin Keith, an indigent Bucyrus resident, have been through the criminal justice system for serious crimes but with remarkably different experiences. Epstein allegedly had sex with and trafficked over three dozen girls, most of them 13 to 16. He faced a life sentence in 2007, but his
These kinds of disparities demean the criminal justice system Read Post »