Betty Montgomery: Dave Yost's record shows he doesn't 'ferociously' protect predators

Betty D. Montgomery is a former Ohio attorney general, auditor of state, state senator for District 2 and prosecuting attorney for Wood County. She is currently of counsel with Mac Murray & Shuster LLP.

Since leaving office, I have generally refrained from public comment on issues in the news.

However, once I read Michaela Burriss' column criticizing Attorney General Dave Yost and the law regarding legal caps in tort cases on monetary damages, I feel that I must.

I applaud and respect Burriss' commitment to sexual assault victims. Tragically, she knows too well the challenges and sorrow these victims face. As a former prosecutor, I personally witnessed these sorrows firsthand, prosecuting and investigating too many of these crimes.

Burriss has opined on Yost's work as auditor of state, prosecuting attorney, as well as attorney general.

As a former auditor of state, prosecuting attorney, and attorney general, I am well aware of the duties and responsibilities of these offices, so please permit me some observations.

Burriss' comments fail to recognize that public officers take an oath to faithfully execute and defend the constitution and the laws passed by the Ohio General Assembly. As an attorney, she knows this.

Yost's oath requires him to defend Ohio's laws – even if he disagrees with them.

Failure to do so would be a breach of his oath and his legal duties. Most importantly, failure to do so would permit one person to overrule the will of a legislature elected by the people of the state of Ohio.

To permit this to happen would be to undermine one of our fundamental democratic principles of checks and balances. To do so would allow one person to dictate the law of the land. In defending the law — where he makes clear in the legal filing that the legislature should consider making exceptions to the monetary caps for sexual assaults —  Yost is doing his job.

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The conflict between personal conscience and public duty is baked into these public positions. Thus, his legal responsibilities always risk being at odds with his personal opinions.

Often the public confuses this, not understanding the distinction between private conviction and public responsibility.

As attorney general, Yost also had a responsibility to seek the release of the injunction in the heartbeat bill to which Burriss refers, once the case was decided in the state's favor. This was his job.

Burriss comments on a prosecution that then-Prosecutor Yost brought, which resulted in a plea.

That plea could not have been taken unless it was based in fact. The court does not take a plea until the judge personally examines the defendant to ensure that the plea is based in fact, and that the plea is given voluntarily and knowingly.

Should the judge feel that these criteria are not met, the judge doesn't accept the plea. Yost was prosecuting a crime. This was his job.

Burris was also concerned about an investigation by the then-Auditor of State Yost of the potential misuse of public dollars in some public assistance programs.

This, too, is his job.

I am personally aware of the commitment Yost and his staff have in helping those victimized by sexual assault and other crimes. There is a significant focus on helping crime victims by Yost and his staff: The work of attorney general DNA labs helps in identifying rapists. 

The tireless work of an entire section of the office —the Crime Victims Services section — is to be applauded. Among its many other duties, this section runs the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination program, reimbursing medical facilities for conducting forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault.

Yost has created a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam tracker, allowing rape victims to anonymously check the status of their evidence kit testing. Reflective of this dedication to crime victims also are the multimillions of dollars given out by the office as grants to crime victims and rape crisis programming.

Additionally, Yost has reached out to local prosecutors, offering the help of his Special Prosecution Section, created to help local prosecutors prosecute difficult cases. Over 100 sexual assault cases are currently being handled by that section.

Also, in 2019, Yost organized a bipartisan group of former attorneys general to support and eliminate the statute of limitations for rape. It did not pass, but Yost still supports this initiative.

These are just a few examples of the office and the attorney general's commitment to rape victims and crime victims in general.

This is not the work of someone who "protects the abuser." He follows the law and his oath. He doesn't "ferociously" protect predators, he ferociously protects victims.

I write this to ensure that the public understands the duties and responsibilities of prosecutors, attorneys general, and auditors of state. I also want to ensure that the public knows about the dedication of Attorney General Yost and his very competent staff to serve the often most vulnerable in our society.

They do so admirably – despite the criticisms and misunderstandings that often predictably occur.

Betty D. Montgomery is a former Ohio attorney general, auditor of state, state senator for District 2 and prosecuting attorney for Wood County. She is currently of counsel with Mac Murray & Shuster LLP.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Opinion: What is Dave Yost's record in helping victims of rape?