Additional information and filings in Hyle v. Porter

After re-reading Hyle v. Porter, No. 2008-Ohio-542 (Ohio S. Ct. Feb. 20, 2008) (available here), for the fourth time, I still had lots of unanswered questions about the case.  Helpfully, the Ohio Supreme Court's website provides access at this link to a lot of the case documents (including all the briefs filed in the Ohio Supreme Court).

The ruling below coming from the First District in this case is available here, and it provides additional interesting background information.  I found this passage from that ruling especially noteworthy:

In the summer of 2005, Hyle had discovered that Porter's home of 14 years was within 983 feet of St. Jude Elementary School.  Hyle then sued under the rule, requesting that the court enjoin Porter from remaining in his home.

St. Jude is not visible from Porter's property.  And it is impossible to walk to the school in a straight line without averting obstacles, hurdling hedges, traversing trellises, or otherwise encroaching on neighbors' property.  Despite the fact that the meandering path to St. Jude would have required that Porter travel “over the river and through the woods,” the legislature and the court below decided that the 1,000 feet is measured as the crow flies.  Although Porter is not a crow and cannot fly, the trial court found that Porter was a registered sex offender whose back yard was within the 1,000-foot radius extending from St. Jude.  So Porter was evicted.