Ohio law change to protect homeowner vs. home invasion

[Frank Reagan]

COLUMBUS -- A homeowner who injures, maims or even kills an intruder is on the right side of the law, starting today in Ohio.

The so-called "castle doctrine" law assumes the owner was acting in self-defense and shifts the burden to police and prosecutors to prove otherwise.

Until Tuesday, people who attacked intruders had to prove they were acting in self-defense.

About 20 states have similar laws with all types of variations. Some states do not limit the self-defense presumption to the person's home but apply it to the workplace or even on the street, if the person is threatened.

In fact, Ohio's provision extends to inside vehicles. And, as it is elsewhere, Ohio's castle doctrine -- so named for the popular premise that 'one's home is one's castle' -- is steeped in controversy.


Any thoughts on the law change????

[Boonedawg]

Should be NO controversy at all. Criminals deserve what they get if the have the guts to break into someones home. Don't do the crime if your not willing to end up on the business end of a .45......period.

Police and jail don't seem to deter some of these guys....then you must assume they mean to do you or your family harm if they are so bold as to come in your home. All I can say to someone protecting their home from some druggie scumbag is, 2 to the chest 1 to the head...good as dead.

[Boonedawg]

In a perfect world a person wouldn't, you could leave your doors unlocked and not worry about your children playing out of your yard..........this isn't that world.

[Region 15]

This law is to long in coming. I have favored the "Castle Doctrine" since the very beginning.

[chief]

It is about time. Criminals have more rights than the law abiding citizen. I work in a prison and it is atrocious how the inmates catered to.
*Three meals a day plus snacks, I actually saw inmates complain there breadsticks were not soft enough today.
*They have access to a nurse everyday.
*Free healthcare, I have seen inmates get elective surgery that most insurance would not cover.
*New computers for every student, smart boards in classrooms.
The list goes on and on.

[godsgeneral]

The average cost of taking care of an inmate in Ohio for one year is $23,000. There are nearly 45,000 inmates in the state of Ohio. That comes in at about $1,035,000,000 a year for inmate costs. Yet we continue to cut education funding.
Sorry, but if someones intrudes here, they aren't getting my check book, but rather, the fat end of a baseball bat.

[OZZIEOHIO]

So are they going to release the ones who are in jail already for defending there homes?