The Fourth Of July

A box of fireworks, a calendar, and a village ordinance

It is the second of July. The box is bought and the family arrives tomorrow.

The rules for the use of 1.4G consumer fireworks in the companion section and the state fire code, licensed exhibitor displays, nuisance, damage to a neighbour's property and any injury are not walked here. Nothing on this page says what is lawful at a particular address on a particular evening, which the local code and fire department answer.

A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.

Words this turns on

Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.

51 words

1.4G consumer fireworksThe class of fireworks a person at least eighteen years of age may discharge on their own property, or on property whose owner has given express permission, on the days the section lists and generally between four in the afternoon and eleven at night.
AdjudicationThe juvenile court finding that a child committed the act alleged. It is what that court does instead of convicting, and what follows it is called a disposition rather than a sentence.
AmenabilityWhether a child can be cared for or rehabilitated within the juvenile system. Where a transfer is discretionary, this is the question the hearing is about.
Appointed counselCounsel provided at public expense to a defendant who cannot afford one, required in any case where imprisonment is actually imposed.
BindoverMoving a case out of juvenile court and into adult criminal court. Ohio has a mandatory kind, where eligibility decides it, and a discretionary kind, where a hearing does.
Brady materialEvidence favourable to the accused and material to guilt or punishment. Suppressing it violates due process regardless of whether the prosecution acted in good faith, and Giglio extends it to evidence impeaching a government witness.
Broadcasting a proceedingRecording, photographing or broadcasting a court proceeding. A statewide rule governs it, the judge presiding has discretion over the request, and each court can carry its own local rule on top.
Clear and convincing evidenceA standard of proof higher than the balance of probabilities used in an ordinary civil case and lower than proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Ohio uses it for civil commitment and for forfeiture, among other things.
Collateral attackA later proceeding that challenges a conviction from outside the direct appeal, such as a petition for postconviction relief or a habeas action.
Competency to stand trialWhether a defendant, because of their present mental condition, is capable of understanding the nature and objective of the proceedings and of assisting in the defence. A defendant is presumed competent, and a finding otherwise takes a hearing and a preponderance of the evidence.
Competent to be an electorThe statutory way of saying eligible to vote. A felony conviction removes it, and the same section gives it back on parole, judicial release, a conditional pardon, non jail community control or post release control, and thereafter on final discharge.
Consensual encounterAn officer speaking to a person without having stopped them. No suspicion of any kind is required, because legally nothing has happened yet.
CustodyFormal arrest, or a restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest. It is the condition that, combined with questioning, triggers the Miranda warnings.
Deadly forceForce likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Against a fleeing person it is unreasonable unless the officer has probable cause to believe that person poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury.
Direct threatA significant risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated or reduced by a reasonable modification. Where one exists, the modification is not required.
DiscoveryThe exchange of evidence between the parties in a criminal case. On receipt of a written demand the prosecuting attorney provides the categories the rule lists, including statements, records, lab results and officer reports.
Effective communicationThe requirement that a public entity communicate with a person with a disability as effectively as it communicates with anyone else, furnishing auxiliary aids and services where they are needed. The entity must give primary consideration to what the person asks for.
Emergency hospitalizationCustody and transport to a hospital for examination, on a belief that a person is a person with a mental illness subject to court order and represents a substantial risk of physical harm to self or others if left at liberty. Police are one of several who may do it.
Explanation of circumstancesThe account of the offence a court hears before making a finding on a misdemeanour no contest plea. Section 2937.07 lets the judge find guilty or not guilty from it.
Home ruleThe provision of the Ohio Constitution giving municipalities authority over their own local affairs. Where a state statute intrudes on that authority without an overriding state interest, it can be held unconstitutional as applied to a city.
InterceptionThe aural or other acquisition of the contents of a wire, oral or electronic communication using a device. Ohio permits it where one party to the communication consents.
Interfering, as distinct from recordingObstructing official business needs an act that hampers or impedes a public official, done with the purpose of preventing or delaying the work. Recording is not that act.
InterrogationExpress questioning, or words and actions an officer should know are reasonably likely to draw an incriminating response. Both halves count.
Invoking counselStating unambiguously that you want a lawyer, which is what stops custodial questioning. Asking whether one is needed, or whether asking for one looks bad, is not the same as asking for one.
Invoking the rightStating clearly that you are exercising the right to remain silent or the right to counsel. The right exists either way, but the protections that follow an invocation run from the moment it is stated.
Jury demandThe written filing that gets a jury in a petty offense case. It goes to the clerk not less than ten days before the trial date, or on or before the third day after notice of that date, whichever is later.
Least restrictive conditionsThe standard a court applies to pretrial release. Conditions are to be the least restrictive ones that reasonably assure the person's appearance and the safety of the public.
No contestA plea that admits the truth of the facts alleged rather than guilt. It leaves a pretrial ruling appealable and, as a rule, cannot be used against the person in a later civil or criminal proceeding.
No duty to retreatA person has no duty to retreat before using force in self defence anywhere they lawfully are, and a court or jury may not consider the possibility of retreat in deciding whether the force was justified.
Not guilty by reason of insanityA finding that at the time of the offence the person did not know, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, the wrongfulness of their acts. The person raising it carries the burden of proving it.
Notice of appealThe filing that starts an appeal, due within thirty days of the entry of a final order. Past that a criminal defendant may ask leave for a delayed appeal, setting out why the appeal as of right was never perfected.
Objective reasonablenessThe standard for force used during a stop or an arrest. Judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene at the moment, weighing the severity of the offence, any immediate threat, and whether the person was resisting or fleeing.
Pattern of conductTwo or more actions or incidents closely related in time. It is the element that separates menacing by stalking from a single unpleasant encounter.
Petty offenseA misdemeanour that is not a serious offense, meaning one whose penalty does not include confinement for more than six months. In a petty offense case the judge hears the trial unless a jury is demanded in writing.
Pretrial motionA request to the court decided before trial, a motion to suppress evidence among them. The rule puts all of them within thirty-five days after arraignment or seven days before trial, whichever is earlier.
Provisional ballotA ballot cast at the polling place by somebody whose eligibility is in question, sealed with a written affirmation and decided by the board afterwards. Anybody eligible to cast one is permitted to, and an official at the polling place is the one who says so.
Public forumA category of government property, such as a street or a park, where speech restrictions face the highest scrutiny. Other government property falls into categories where more restriction is permitted.
Qualified immunityA defence protecting an official sued individually unless the right they violated was clearly established at the time, meaning existing precedent had put the question beyond debate.
Qualified individualThe person the overdose immunity protects. It covers three people: somebody acting in good faith who seeks help for another person overdosing, somebody who overdoses and seeks help for themselves, and somebody who is the subject of another person's call.
Qualified interpreterThe interpreter a court appoints where a party or witness cannot readily understand or communicate because of a hearing, speech or other impairment. The appointment is the court's duty rather than something that has to be requested.
Reasonable modificationA change to a policy, practice or procedure that a public entity must make where the change is needed to avoid discriminating on the basis of disability. A police department is a public entity.
Reciprocal discoveryThe defendant's duty to provide the state the same categories of material, triggered by having demanded discovery in the first place.
Reviewing officialThe person a private citizen's charging affidavit goes to for review. A judge of a court of record, the prosecuting attorney or the attorney charged by law with prosecution there, or a magistrate.
School dayThe unit Ohio measures school discipline in. A suspension runs for not more than ten school days, and an expulsion for not more than the greater of eighty school days or the school days remaining in the semester or term.
Serious offenseAny felony, and any misdemeanour whose penalty includes confinement for more than six months. A jury is the default here, and letting it go takes a written, signed, filed waiver made in open court.
Speedy trial timeThe number of days Ohio gives the state to bring a person to trial, counted from arrest or service of summons. Thirty for a minor misdemeanour, forty five, ninety, and two hundred and seventy for a felony.
The self defence presumptionA person is presumed to have acted in self defence when using force against somebody unlawfully entering, or having unlawfully entered, their residence or occupied vehicle. Ohio also puts the burden on the state to disprove self defence once the issue is raised.
Time, place and mannerRestrictions on when, where and how speech occurs, permitted in a public forum where they are content neutral, narrowly tailored to a significant interest, and leave open other channels.
TollingA period that pushes the trial deadline out rather than counting against it. Section 2945.72 lists them, and several belong to the accused, including a continuance granted on their own motion.
Triple countEach day a person is held in jail in lieu of bail on the pending charge counts as three days against the speedy trial count. It turns a felony's two hundred and seventy days into ninety.
Under colour of state lawThe condition that makes a federal civil rights claim available. Somebody exercising power they have because of their public office, whether or not they were following the rules of that office.