Tag: Ohio Supreme Court

Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee to Consider Supreme Court Endorsements and Resolution to Protect State Constitution

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee is scheduled to meet on Friday to consider endorsements for the three Ohio Supreme Court seats up for grabs in 2024, as well as a resolution to support the Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment.

In the Ohio Supreme Court, Democratic Justices Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart are up for re-election and Republican Justice Joe Deters must run for retention in 2024 and re-election in 2026. It will give Republicans an opportunity to hold 6 of 7 seats in the high court. Currently, the GOP has a 4-3 majority in the state Supreme Court.

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Ohio Governor DeWine Calls on Lawmakers to Consider Strengthening ‘Heartbeat Law’ Ahead of Potential Vote on Abortion Amendment

Hannah Poling

In advance of a potential November referendum on an proposed constitutional amendment aiming to legalize abortion throughout the state, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said he wants the General Assembly to consider strengthening Ohio’s “heartbeat law.”

According to DeWine, to avoid passage of the abortion amendment, Ohio needs to revisit the heartbeat law and ensure that Ohio has sustainable legislation that voters will not overturn at the polls.

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Ohio Governor Appoints Civil Attorney Jeffrey Ruple to Lake County Court of Common Pleas

Hannah Poling

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced this week the appointment of Republican civil litigator Jeffrey Ruple to the general division of the Lake County Court of Common Pleas.

Ruple, of Kirtland, Ohio will be taking the seat formerly held by Republican Judge Eugene Lucci. In order to retain the seat he must win the general election in November 2024. Lucci was elected to the Eleventh District Court of Appeals leaving his seat on the Lake County Court of Common Pleas vacant. Judge-designee Rupe will assume office on April 24th.

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Ohio Ballot Board Requests State Supreme Court to Dismiss Abortion Amendment Lawsuit

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Ballot Board requested that the Ohio Supreme Court dismiss a lawsuit claiming that it erred in a decision to advance a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize abortion throughout the state.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wrote a brief on behalf of the ballot board saying that the relators “fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted” and the relators “do not have a clear legal right to the relief sought.” Additionally, the Ohio Ballot Board requested that the judge dismiss the relators’ claims.

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Ohio Supreme Court Sets Schedule for Abortion Amendment Lawsuit

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court set a schedule on Tuesday for briefs and evidence in a lawsuit claiming that the Ohio Ballot Board erred by approving a proposed abortion constitutional amendment as one issue.

Earlier this month, the Ohio Ballot Board unanimously certified that the proposed constitutional amendment by the Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of radical pro-abortion activists that includes Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, along with the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights that would legalize abortion throughout the state called “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” incorporated only one constitutional amendment and therefore advanced to the signature gathering stage.

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Ohio Pro-Life Group Announces First Wave of 48 Coalition Members to Fight for Parental Rights

Hannah Poling

An Ohio pro-woman and pro-parent group said that their large group of Ohio-based coalition members is a testament that Ohioans refuse to sit back and watch as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood bring a war on parental rights to Ohio.

Protect Women Ohio (PWO), a new group dedicated to defeating a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize abortion throughout the state, released a list of it’s first wave of Ohio-based coalition members on Wednesday.

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Ohio Residents Ask Ohio Supreme Court to Split Abortion Constitutional Amendment Proposal into Multiple Issues

Hannah Poling

On Monday, two Southeast Ohio residents asked the state Supreme Court to overturn the Ohio Ballot Board’s decision last week to advance a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize abortion throughout the state.

According to the lawsuit, the Ohio Ballot Board erred last week when it decided that the proposed amendment contained only one issue, when it actually contained two or more. A proposal including more than one amendment would need to be divided into separate issues under Ohio law.

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Republican Judge Megan Shanahan Announces Bid for Ohio Supreme Court Seat

Hannah Poling

Republican Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Shanahan has announced her bid for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court in 2024. Shanahan is the first to announce her candidacy.

According to Shanahan, she is running for an Ohio Supreme Court Seat because she understands the proper role of the judiciary “interpreting the law, not legislating from the bench.”

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Ohio Supreme Court Accepts Attorney General Yost’s Appeal in ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban Case, Won’t Rule on Constitutional Question

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court has formally accepted an appeal by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a case involving the state’s six-week abortion ban.

The court announced on Tuesday morning that it will only consider two of the three legal issues Yost asked the court to consider: whether he has the right to appeal a lower court’s decision to put the heartbeat law on hold and whether abortion clinics have “standing” or the legal authority to challenge the law in the first place.

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Republican Appeals Court Judge Assigned to Preside over Ohio Abortion Law Injunction

Hannah Poling

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy assigned Matthew Byrne, a Twelfth District Court of Appeals judge, this week to preside over a state appeal of a preliminary injunction on Ohio’s abortion law.

Byrne takes over for newly appointed Ohio Justice Joe Deters, who recused himself after the abortion clinic plaintiffs argued that he couldn’t rule on the state’s heartbeat bill ban because he was an original defendant on the case when serving as Hamilton County Prosecutor.

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Former Judge Russell Mock Elected Hamilton County GOP Chair

Hannah Poling

The Hamilton County Republican Party elected former Judge Russell Mock as its new chairman early on Thursday evening.

Green Township Trustee Triffon Callos, who has served as the temporary party chair for the previous month, said that Mock defeated former state representative Tom Brinkman at a closed-door meeting of the county party’s central committee at Clovernook County Club by a vote of 125 to 66.

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Retired Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor to Spearhead Ohio Redistricting Reform in 2024

Hannah Poling

According to former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor , a group seeking to overhaul Ohio’s redistricting procedure plans to put a constitutional amendment before voters in November 2024.

Last year, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected maps produced by Ohio’s Redistricting Commission on numerous occasions. O’Connor sided with the Democrats in redistricting lawsuits despite the GOP holding a one-seat majority.

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Chief Justice Kennedy Promises ‘A New Day’ at the Ohio Supreme Court

Hannah Poling

Taking her ceremonial oath of office on Wednesday, Ohio’s new Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy promised “a new day” at the high court and could cast the deciding vote on crucial topics in the state like abortion and redistricting.

Kennedy, who becomes the second female justice to preside over the state’s highest court, said she didn’t initially picture the moment.

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Hamilton County Republican Party Names Melissa Powers as Next County Prosecutor

Hannah Poling

Melissa Powers, a former juvenile court judge, has been chosen by the Hamilton County Republican Party to serve as the county’s next prosecutor.

The Hamilton County Republican Party’s central committee met late Thursday afternoon at Clovernook Country Club in North College Hill to choose Joe Deters’ successor after his appointment to the Ohio Supreme Court. Powers, who did not seek re-election to the juvenile court bench last year, received a resounding majority of the vote.

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Ohio Attorney General Asks Supreme Court to Lift Order Blocking ‘Heartbeat Law’

Hannah Poling

Attorney General Dave Yost is requesting that the Ohio Supreme Court reinstates the heartbeat law as readily as possible, which blocks the majority of abortions once a fetal heartbeat is found.

In accordance with the 2019 Ohio law, doctors are not permitted to perform abortions once heart activity has been identified, or around six weeks into a pregnancy. The law went into effect the same day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24th, 2022.

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State Supreme Court Rules Cleveland Not Required to Refund Millions in Traffic-Camera Tickets

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the city of Cleveland is not required to repay $4.1 million to drivers who improperly paid traffic-camera tickets between 2005 and 2009 due to the motorists paying the fines without contesting them.

A number of drivers who got traffic-camera tickets but did not own the cars they were driving filed a class-action suit in 2009, alleging that the city of Cleveland had unfairly retained the fine money from persons who drove leased, rented, or utilized a vehicle that belonged to their employers. The claimants requested refunds of $4,121,185.89 and an additional $1,842,563.51 in interest.

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Ohio Bar to Remove Mental Health Disclosure Next Year

Hannah Poling

Prospective attorneys in Ohio have to fill out a questionnaire, undergo a background check, and participate in an interview to ascertain if they meet the necessary ethical and moral standards to practice law in the state. After January 17th, 2023, Ohioans will no longer have to list a mental or psychological disorder on the questionnaire.

According to the changes to Rule I of the Rules for the Government of the Bar of Ohio, a person’s mental health would only be relevant as part of an application when there is conduct that could be detected during the investigation, such as a criminal offense, substance use issues, or financial irresponsibility.

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Hamilton County GOP to Fill Vacant Prosecutor Seat

Hannah Poling

Now that Governor Mike DeWine appointed Republican Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters to fill a vacancy on the Ohio Supreme Court (OSC), his former long-time position as prosecutor will become vacant on January 7th, 2023, when he is sworn into the OSC.

Throughout his tenure, Deters has gained a reputation in a crucial office for being a “tough on crime” prosecutor, believing in strict punishments for violent crime, including the death penalty, bail reform boundaries, and policing in general.

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Ohio Supreme Court Rules Tort Damage Caps Unconstitutional in Child Sex Abuse Cases

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a state law capping the number of damages awarded for “pain and suffering” claims in a personal injury lawsuit applied to child sex abuse cases is unconstitutional.

A 4-3 decision from the Supreme Court ruled that youth victims who “suffer traumatic, extensive, and chronic psychological injury as a result of intentional criminal acts and who sue their abusers for civil damages,” should not have caps on “non-economic damages.”

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Gov. DeWine Appoints Hamilton County Prosecutor to Ohio Supreme Court

Hannah Poling

Governor Mike DeWine has appointed Republican Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters to fill a vacancy on the Ohio Supreme Court.

Deters will fill the seat that Justice Sharon Kennedy is vacating at the end of the year to replace Maureen O’Connor as Chief Justice. O’Connor is stepping down at the end of the year due to Ohio’s age limit for judges. One may not run for a seat on any Ohio court if one is more than 70 years of age. This limit often forces the retirement of long-time justices.

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Richland County Juvenile Court Judge to Meet with Ohio Governor’s Legal Counsel to Discuss Vacant Supreme Court Seat

Hannah Poling

Richland County Juvenile Court Judge Steve McKinley will meet Wednesday with Governor Mike DeWine’s chief legal counsel to discuss a vacancy on the Ohio Supreme Court.

According to McKinley, as an Ohio Supreme Court justice, he would define the state constitution “reasonably and in accordance with our tradition … protecting individual rights and the separation of powers.”

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Ohio House Hears Package of Seven Bills Restricting Traffic Cameras

Hannah Poling

A package of Republican-backed bills designed to crack down on municipalities that employ photo-monitoring devices to enforce traffic, received its first hearing before state lawmakers Tuesday at the Ohio House Transportation and Public Safety Committee.

State Representative Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) is a long time critic of traffic cameras. He says that traffic cameras are a scheme that funnels cash to camera-friendly towns and does little to protect Ohio’s roadways.

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Ohio Supreme Court Halts State’s Attempt to Collect More Taxes from NASCAR

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday morning that revenue earned by NASCAR from selling the rights to broadcast stock car races and merchandise to Ohio fans is not subject to state business taxes.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court rejected the Ohio Tax Commissioner, Jeffrey McClain’s, order that NASCAR owes the state almost $550,000 for money earned from broadcasting races, online marketing, and sponsorship fees.

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Ohio Supreme Court Dismisses Case on Governor DeWine’s Halt to Additional COVID Unemployment Benefits

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a case on if Governor Mike DeWine had the authority to cut off an extra $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits.

Justices dismissed the case as “moot.” Without a court order requiring the federal government to keep these additional unemployment benefits, it was unclear if the money still existed.

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School Employee Takes Suit Against Union to Ohio Supreme Court

The Center Square

A nonunion school guidance counselor wants the Ohio Supreme Court to decide if she can hire her own lawyer for a grievance with her school system, rather than be forced to use union representation.

The court has not set a hearing date for Barbara Kolkowski, who sued the Ashtabula Area Teachers Association and asked the court to rule a union – which she is not a member of – cannot force her to accept union legal representation to arbitrate a workplace grievance.

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Buckeye Institute Disputes Expanded Municipal Taxing Authority in Ohio on Behalf of Blue Ash Resident

Bradley Vasoli

A Columbus-based think tank this week filed its legal response in the Ohio Supreme Court in defense of a Blue Ash man who believes the state cannot make him pay Cincinnati income taxes for a period of time he actually worked from home. 

The Buckeye Institute argued that a state law passed in March 2020 to allow jurisdictions encompassing an “employee’s principal place of work” to levy taxes on that worker even when he or she works from home is unconstitutional. Specifically, the institute notes that the federal Constitution’s dormant commerce clause in Article I, Section 8 disallows states to enact statutes that “unduly burden interstate commerce.” Buckeye attorneys also believe the Ohio Constitution constrains lawmakers’ ability to broaden cities and towns’ tax-collection power. 

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Ohio Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Stopping Picketing at Homes, Private Businesses

The Center Square

Public officials are not immune from picketing connected to a labor dispute at their homes or private workplaces after a divided Ohio Supreme Court struck down a law that prohibited encouraging “targeted picketing.”

The law made organizing picketing at a private residence and business an unfair labor practice, but in a 4-3 decision the Supreme Court said that violated the First Amendment right of free speech.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Michael P. Donnelly, Melody Stewart and Jennifer Brunner all joined the majority.

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Ohio Supreme Court Rules for Gibson’s Bakery over Oberlin College

Bradley Vasoli

Ohio’s Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with Gibson’s Bakery in its libel case against Oberlin College, declining to hear the school’s appeal and permitting the family-owned establishment to collect over $36 million in damages. 

The litigation against Oberlin and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo stemmed from uncorroborated accusations of racism that the Gibson family believes initially cost their store half its patronage. In June 2019, a Lorain County court ordered the school to pay the bakers $32 million. About $4.5 million in interest has accumulated since that ruling. 

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Ohio Supreme Court Allows Heartbeat Law to Remain in Effect, Denies Abortion Providers’ Request to Allow Procedure to Continue

Susan Berry, PhD

The Ohio law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, generally at six weeks’ gestation, will remain in effect while a lawsuit filed by abortion providers continues against it.

The law took effect after the state Supreme Court denied a request by abortion providers for an emergency stay on the legislation to allow abortions to continue while the lawsuit proceeds.

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ACLU and Planned Parenthood File Lawsuit in Ohio Supreme Court to Block Enforcement of Heartbeat Law

Susan Berry, PhD

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood, and a group of Ohio abortion facilities filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Ohio Supreme Court that seeks to overturn the state’s heartbeat law which began being enforced soon after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

The pro-abortion groups claim in the lawsuit Ohioans have a “fundamental right to abortion” under the Ohio Constitution, “as guaranteed by the Ohio Constitution’s broad protections for individual liberties under Article I, Sections 1, 16, and 21, and the equal protection guarantee under Article I, Section 2.”

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DeWine to Ohio Superintendents: $100 Million Budgeted for School Safety Grants

Bradley Vasoli

Ohio schools will receive $100 million in total to purchase security equipment as part of the next round of K-12 School Safety Grants, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) wrote to superintendents on Friday.

The allocations, which come as a part of the state’s capital budget bill that DeWine signed into law last week, will go toward purchases such as outdoor lighting, facility-mapping software, school-radio systems, door-locking technology and visitor-badge systems. The Ohio School Safety Center in Columbus is now drafting the application for schools to access this money and expects to soon start the application process.

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Ohio Legislation to Add Public Safety, More Cash Bail Passes Committee

The Center Square

A push to have Ohio judges consider public safety when setting bail took a step forward when the House Criminal Justice Committee advanced legislation supported by prosecutor and business groups across the state.

House Bill 607 adds the risk of public safety into bail consideration in direct response to an Ohio Supreme Court decision in Debuse v. McGuffey, a ruling that upheld an appellate court’s decision permitting the reduction of a murder suspect’s bail without considering community safety.

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Ohio Redistricting Commission Sends Previous Tossed Out Maps Back to Court

The Center Square

Groups that successfully challenged the constitutionality of the third set of Ohio state legislative redistricting maps will likely challenge again after the Ohio Redistricting Commission resubmitted the previously thrown out maps.

The commission voted 4-3 late Thursday to send back its third attempt at Senate and House districts, even though the court had already ruled they unfairly favored Republicans. The Ohio Supreme Court had set a 9 a.m. Friday deadline for maps to be submitted.

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Federal Court Imposes May 28 Deadline on Ohio Redistricting Commission

The Center Square

A federal court gave the Ohio Redistricting Commission until May 28 to draw state legislative redistricting maps that meet a court order, or it will implement a previously rejected map so the state can hold an Aug. 2 primary.

The three-judge panel, voting 2-1, said it would impose the commission’s third set of maps because the state had started preparing to use those maps before they were declared unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court.

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Ohio Election Officials Say Second Primary Must Be August 2

The Center Square

Ohio election officials said the state could not hold its second primary any later than Aug. 2, despite an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that suggested the state could easily hold an election later in August or even September.

The Ohio Association of Election Officials said overseas and military ballots, along with other requirements for testing voting systems and proofing ballots, make Aug. 2 the last day to have a primary for state legislative offices if the same rules are to be met for the November general election.

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Court Ruling Sends Ohio Redistricting Commission Back to Drawing Maps

The Center Square

Justice Michael Donnelly was stronger in a concurring opinion.

“The independent map drawers’ efforts were apparently little more than a sideshow – yet more fodder in this political sport,” Donnelly wrote. “What appeared to be the start of a transparent redistricting process when the two independent map drawers were engaged by the commission became transparent only in the sense that it exposed the falsehood that some of the commission members had fulfilled their obligations under the Ohio Constitution. As to that, Ohioans are still watching and waiting.”

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Ohio Supreme Court Throws Out Fourth Set of State Legislative Maps

The Center Square

The Ohio Supreme Court struck down a fourth set of state legislative district maps Thursday, ordering the Ohio Redistricting Commission to develop and adopt an entirely new set of maps by May 6.

The ruling declared the fourth set of maps invalid in its entirety. The new plan must be filed with Secretary of State Frank LaRose by 9 a.m. May 6 and filed with the court by noon the same day.

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