Why haven't the Columbus police officers involved in last week’s shootout been named?

Nearly four days have passed since a highway shootout left one suspect dead and a Columbus police officer injured, but the injured officer and seven other officers involved have yet to be named.

The Columbus Division of Police said Friday they would not identify the eight police officers involved in the shooting, citing Marsy’s Law, a state law aimed at protecting the victims of violent crimes.

The division was “unable” to release the identities of the eight officers involved “due to recently passed Marsy’s Law and the direction of the Columbus City Attorney’s Office,” police said in a news release Friday afternoon. They did provide the years of service for each officer.

What is Marsy’s Law?

The law is named for Marsalee “Marsy” Nicholas, a California college student stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1983. A week after the woman was murdered, her mother and brother walked into a grocery store and was confronted by the accused murderer, who was out on bail.

Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved a Marsy’s Law amendment to the state constitution in 2017, which ensured certain rights for crime victims to be informed of important hearings in their case, to object in court if they feel their rights are being violated and to financial damages, if appropriate.

Under the law, the victims of crimes are also entitled to privacy.

The Ohio General Assembly later passed a bill codifying Marsy’s Law, and it went into effect in April 2023. Nearly a dozen other states have also enacted Marsy’s Law.

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When law enforcement leans on Marsy’s Law to shield officer identities

But the use of the victims rights’ law to withhold the names of law enforcement officers involved in shootings has drawn scrutiny across the country.

In Florida, law enforcement agencies have leaned on the law to hide the names of officers who sent a 15-year-old to the hospital and officers who released their K9 dogs on drunk and mentally ill people.

Similar situations have occurred in North Dakota and South Dakota.

The issue of whether Marsy’s Law can be used to shield the identities of officers who kill suspects has made its way to the Florida Supreme Court.

The First Amendment Foundation, the Florida Press Association and a number of media outlets, including the Tallahassee Democrat and USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida (which are owned by Gannett and are sister publications of The Dispatch), intervened in the lawsuit, arguing that allowing Marsy’s Law to apply to law enforcement officers would undercut the state’s open records laws.

The Florida Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the matter.

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jsmola@dispatch.com

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