ELR Citation: 50 ELR 20050
No(s). 3:19 CV 434 (N.D. Ohio Feb 27, 2020) (Zouhary, J.)

A district court held invalid an amendment to the city of Toledo's charter that gave legal rights to Lake Erie. A local family farm argued the amendment was unconstitutionally vague and thus that it should be invalidated. The court found that the environmental rights of the lake and its watershed to "exist, flourish, and naturally evolve" and the right of Toledans to "self-government in their local community" identified in the amendment were impermissibly vague, and exceeded the power of municipal government in Ohio. It therefore invalidated the amendment in its entirety.