Fascinating (non-Blakely!!) Ohio decision

Today Ohio continued its recent trend (noted here and here) of being a very interesting sentencing state when the Ohio Supreme Court handed down its decision in State v. Talty, 103 Ohio St.3d 177, 2004-Ohio-4888 (Sept. 29, 2004) (available here). The case involves the sentencing of a defendant who pled guilty to “two counts of nonsupport …., a fifth-degree felony.” And the decision’s opening paragraph, written by (Ohio State College of Law alum) Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, gives you the essentials:

Appellant, Sean Talty, challenges the imposition of a condition of community control that ordered him to make “all reasonable efforts to avoid conceiving another child” during his five-year probationary period. Because we hold that the antiprocreation order is overbroad, we vacate that portion of the trial court’s sentencing order.

Significantly, the majority of the Ohio Supreme Court in Talty, while recognizing that an antiprocreation order raises serious constitutional issues, decides the cases on state law/statutory grounds:

[W]e hold that the antiprocreation order is overbroad under Jones, 49 Ohio St.3d at 52, 550 N.E.2d 469, and vacate that portion of the trial court’s sentencing order. Given our disposition, we need not address Talty’s constitutional and remaining nonconstitutional challenges to the antiprocreation condition.

Notably, two of the seven Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court dissented. Justice Paul Pfeifer (also an Ohio State College of Law alum) has this to say:

Talty was ordered to “make all reasonable efforts” to avoid fathering another child. I consider this sanction appropriate, or reasonable, and proportionate, under the egregious circumstances of this case because the sanction relates directly to the crime of which Talty was convicted and is tailored to prevent even more instances of felony nonsupport. Given Talty’s propensity to sire children, the antiprocreation condition must also be considered in the nature of punishment.