State Issue 2, the Nov. 3 ballot proposal that would create an appointed 13-member state livestock-care standards board, is an "inappropriate use" of the Ohio Constitution, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O'Connor said last week.

The Findlay Courier quoted O'Connor from an interview after a Thursday speech at the Hancock County Republican Party's fall dinner at the University of Findlay; she was the keynote speaker.

O'Connor said the state constitution is a "much bigger document" that should not be amended to include policy decisions, such as livestock care, that are best left to lawmakers.

O'Connor, who plans to run for chief justice next year, said backers of Issue 2 understand that once something is added to the constitution, it will take "an arm and a leg" to overturn it, the paper reported.

Ohio agribusiness leaders appealed to state lawmakers earlier this year to place the issue on the ballot after the Humane Society of the United States said it planned to work in Ohio to push for more humane treatment for livestock and poultry. Similar reforms are already in place in seven states, including Michigan.

The thrust of the Humane Society's proposal would be banning rules that prohibit animals from turning around, lying down, standing up and fully extending their limbs.

Issue 2 supporters blast "out-of-state interests" for wanting to make changes that would harm the Ohio economy.

-- Alan Johnson ajohnson@dispatch.com