Brown v. Yost

ICAP represents a group of Ohio citizens who seek to use the state's ballot initiative process to propose an amendment to the state constitution. Under state law, sponsors of a ballot measure must submit a summary of their proposal to the attorney general for approval before they can circulate a petition seeking the signatures necessary to get on the ballot. Here, Attorney General Dave Yost has rejected the summary proposed by ICAP's clients seven times, preventing them from circulating their petition to voters and blocking them from the November 2024 ballot. The lawsuit alleges that Yost has violated the sponsors' First Amendment rights by preventing them from engaging in core political speech.