COLUMBUS, Ohio — Following a devastating defeat at the United States Supreme Court, Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Tuesday that he was dropping his objections and allowing a proposed constitutional amendment that would abolish qualified immunity for police and other government employees to proceed.

Yost’s action came on the same day that the Supreme Court rejected to stay a preliminary injunction issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, which agreed with the measure’s supporters that their First Amendment rights to free expression had likely been violated.

With Ohio’s almost century-old ballot initiative procedure on the verge of being permanently found unlawful, Yost moved quickly to dismiss his appeal in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Yost had repeatedly rejected proposed summary language for the bill as not being a fair and true depiction of what it would accomplish.

However, lower courts determined that he imposed a “severe burden” on organizers in terms of interacting with voters and completing the filing deadline. They also rejected Yost’s claim that the matter belonged in the Ohio Supreme Court.

“Dave Yost has demonstrated that he cannot be trusted with that much power,” said Mark Brown, an attorney for the organizers. “Giving any governmental official, especially an elected official, that much power is excessive. “The Supreme Court made the correct decision.

Yost said in a statement that he planned to engage with the Republican-majority state Legislature to create legislation “to reform the ballot initiative summary process to protect the integrity of Ohio’s elections and freedom of speech.”

The constitutional amendment would repeal qualified immunity, which prevents anyone from suing over claims that police or government officials violated their constitutional rights. It proceeds to the Ohio Ballot Board.