Boone County Recorder 01/23/20

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2020 ❚ BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS ❚ PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

Boone County passes Second Amendment sanctuary resolution Julia Fair Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Boone County offi cials passed a Second Amendment sanctuary resolution Tuesday night. But, they also recognized that the resolution is symbolic and doesn't have legal weight. The sanctuary resolution movement recently gained momentum in Kentucky. The name suggested it would exempt certain counties from gun regulations. But, that's not how it works, Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore told the packed Boone County Fiscal Court room. "The legislature passes laws and those laws apply to us," Moore told a meeting attendee who asked how the resolution would work. "We do not have the authority to override or to amend any laws that the state legislature passes.” The county can, and did, express strong opposition to any future gun regulations that could come out of the statehouse. Earlier in January, Kenton County passed a similar resolution and so did Clermont County in Ohio. Campbell County is set to consider a Second Amendment resolution Wednesday, but it doesn't use the word sanctuary in its title. Legislators in Kentucky prefi led seven gun-related bills for the 2020 Kentucky General Assembly session, according to the General Assembly website. Those bills concern Jerome Palmer, an admin of the Facebook advocacy group Boone County KY 2A, he told the fi scal court. The private group has garnered over 900 members who advocate for less gun regulations. Palmer urged the offi cials to pass the resolution. Resolutions similar to the one Boone County passed have been spouting up throughout the U.S. The language in the resolutions, and what they specifi cally do, varies. Some act as a formal way for local governments to express its opposition to gun

Jerome Palmer, an admin of a Facebook advocacy group called Boone County KY 2A, speaks in favor of the Second Amendment sanctuary resolution during Tuesday’s meeting of Boone County Fiscal Court. AMANDA ROSSMANN/THE ENQUIRER

laws, without giving specifi cs on how it would oppose the laws. Other resolutions declare the counties won't use their own funds to enforce the laws. Virginia gained national attention when 86 of the state's 95 counties passed gun sanctuary measures in anticipation of gun control laws the new Democratic statehouse majority promised to pass. Then, the state's attorney general weighed in and said the resolutions had no legal weight, according to the Washington Post. Critics of the Second Amendment resolution call out the legal weight, as Virginia's attorney general did. “The resolution in Boone County is

legally meaningless and a distraction from the public health crisis our state is facing. Nearly 700 people die by fi rearms in Kentucky on an average year and we need gun safety legislation that addresses that,” said Northern Kentucky resident Crimson MacDonald in a statement with KY Moms Demand Action. “There’s nothing unconstitutional about common sense gun safety laws, so our focus is on supporting lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who want to put a stop to the shootings.” In the end, Boone County unanimously passed its resolution. When the last vote came the audience applauded and thanked the elected offi cials.

Commissioner Jesse Brewer said the resolution would send the message, "not here" to Frankfort. "I can't be more proud to be part of a community that feels so strongly about our constitutional rights," he said. How they voted: ❚ Judge-Executive Gary Moore - yes ❚ Commissioner Jesse Brewer - yes ❚ Commissioner Charlie Kenner - yes ❚ Commissioner Cathy Flaig - yes Julia is the Northern Kentucky government reporter through the Report For America program. Do you know something she should know? Send her a note at jfair@enquirer.com and follow her on twitter at @JFair_Reports.

Cincinnati tops Ohio's biggest cities in hate crimes per capita Chris Mayhew

Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Statistics collected by the FBI from local police agencies show that Cincinnati has the highest rate of crimes motivated by or related to hate amongst Ohio's largest cities, according to new federal statistics. Cincinnati's 9.93 incidents per 100,000 population in 2018 is slightly higher than the 9.87 incidents per 100,000 in Cleveland and 8.6 per 100,000 in Columbus for 2018, according to the latest FBI statistics. Cincinnati's rate did decrease 26.8 percent from 2017's rate of 13.7 incidents per 100,000 in 2017.

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Cincinnati had 30 reported hate crimes in 2018 compared to 41 hate crimes in 2017. The FBI's hate crime website sets a high bar for the methodology of when law enforcement shall report crimes as hate. "Only when a law enforcement investigation reveals suffi cient evidence to lead a reasonable and prudent person to conclude that the off ender’s actions were motivated, in whole or in part, by his or her bias, should an agency report an incident as a hate crime," states the FBI's website. Of the 30 2018, incidents, 24 were motivated by race, ethnicity or ancestry, according to the FBI report. There were four instances of religion and two in-

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stances of sexual orientation as the motivation for reported incidents in 2018, in Cincinnati. Across Ohio, race, ethnicity or ancestry accounts for 218 of the 350 reported hate crime incidents in 2018. Sexual orientation accounted for 54 of the reported incidents, religion accounted for 40 reported incidents and disability accounted for 32 reported incidents. Gender was listed as the motivation in two Ohio incidents and gender identity was listed as the motivation in four incidents. Statistics from 2018 in Kentucky listed seven reported hate crimes from Boone County police, six reported hate crimes in Covington, four in Florence, and two from Campbell County Police

For the Postmaster: Published weekly every Thursday. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, KY 41042 ISSN 201108 ❚ USPS 060-780 Postmaster: Send address change to The Boone County Recorder, 2766 Circleport Dr., Erlanger, KY 41018 Annual subscription: Weekly Recorder In-County $18.02; All other in-state $23.32; Out-of-state $27.56; Kentucky sales tax included

Department There was one hate crime reported in 2018 to each of the police agencies covering Erlanger, Fort Thomas, Highland Heights, Independence, Newport and at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. In Southwest Ohio, Hamilton police had fi ve reported hate crimes. Green Township, and Miami Township in Clermont County, Monroe, Norwood and in Warren County each had two reported hate crimes. Delhi Township, Colerain Township, Lebanon, Liberty Township, Montgomery, Mount Healthy, North College Hill, Reading and Ross Township each had one reported hate crime.

Vol. 144 No. 13 © 2020 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED $1.00

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