I hope to the gods this woman can sue his pants off in civil court, at least.

In the meantime, I hope there are some Republicans in Ohio who are still trying to get their eyebrows to come back down off the ceiling after reading this.

WHat kind of dumbass DA didn't see that one coming and charge the guy with lesser-included offenses of assault and battery or assault on a female?

What a moron.

I suppose it's possible that the DA might have decided this was the perfect case to use in a challenge to the amendment. Or maybe he's a moron.

Maybe I'm high on paranoia drugs here, but are you sure that consequence is unintended/undesirable from the point of view of the amendment's most avid supporters? I mean, there are people in this world who think that relationships that are not marriage should not be subject to any of the same protections as a marriage, though you get into terrible shaky ground an untenable positions with such a statement.

At any rate, I'm sure the guy will be back in court again. And maybe against a DA who's a little wiser.

Heck, to paraphrase Jesus' General, this is probably an intended consequence. The woman was obviously not OBEDIENT enough to her man. We now need to extend this decision to chattel...I mean married couples.

This is a joke. By the reasoning of the court, parental relations would also be nullified by the new amendment, unless there is some saving language. An appellate court will overturn this ruling, toot sweet. And in this age of legislation, with victimhood being the paramount public interest, there's no way this is an intended consequence. These people are exactly stupid enough not to have foreseen this very clever motion to quash. Can't wait till it gets to my state.

Um... pushing and slapping someone is still a crime (assault and battery) even if they're not your spouse.

And, as mentioned above, the girlfriend could also file civil claims for injury, emotional distress, the works.

oops... like drfranklives pointed out.

Ah the voters of Ohio should be so proud. So proud.

I wonder how many will say "Oh shit, did we vote for this?"

And how many will say "Well this is God's way of punishing people who live in sin."

GB, I thought conservatives were all hot for this tort reform thing to reign in those crazy lawyers who get so sue-happy. How supportive do you think Ohio Republicans will be of endorsing the civil courts as the new recourse in unwed domestic violence cases? Oh wait, that's right, they can't be considered hypocritical for anything because their accountability moment has passed.

My understanding is tort reform is more about people suing huge corporations, particularly in class-action lawsuits, despite having no real injury, or no real way to prove the corporation caused whatever injury they may have.

A woman suing the man who beat her falls outside that category.