Douglas leaves the bench after action-filled tenure

Newspapers rarely serve as cheerleaders for politicians -- the role of society's watchdog does not lend itself to being befriended by individuals we're supposed to be watching -- but there are a few officeholders who have won us over with their dedication, intelligence and commitment to public service. One such person is Ohio Supreme Court Justice Andrew Douglas, whose tenure on the bench is at an end because his age, 70, barred him from seeking a fourth, six-year term this year.
Douglas' departure will deprive the court of a quick-witted, scholarly, hard-working justice who never compromised his principles and who relished a good legal debate. His penchant for speaking his mind endeared him to reporters and editorial writers. In this age of word-parsing by politicians, Douglas was a maverick. You knew where he stood -- at all times.
To be sure, such adherence to his core beliefs got him into trouble with his colleagues and with leaders in the Republican Party who expected him to be inside the tent shooting out, instead of outside the tent shooting in whatever direction he pleased.
Political assaults
But that's the very reason we were sold on him. He never flinched in the face of partisan political assaults. And, he never wavered in his belief that government at all levels should be open to public participation and public scrutiny.
During his years on the bench, Douglas was the champion of open meetings and public records laws. His opinions in lawsuits brought by newspapers and other media outlets against government officials attempting to conduct the people's business in the dark left little room for misunderstanding: Only in very rare instances can the press be barred from official deliberations. As for government documents, Douglas warned officeholders not to erect barriers, such as charging exorbitant fees for copies, that would dissuade citizens from seeking such information.
In 1996, when he sought re-election to a third term, we endorsed Douglas with the following words: "[He] is more than the justice with the most seniority; he is a justice of great insight, careful deliberation and an unwavering respect for the law and for the citizens who the law protects."
And we added: "Some day the Ohio Supreme Court will have to do without Justice Douglas' counsel, but certainly not now."
Well, that day is here -- but even as he took his leave, Justice Douglas was embroiled in controversy. Did he or did he not find that Ohio's system of funding public primary and secondary education is unconstitutional? Yes, he voted with the majority, but the governor and other critics of the Supreme Court's involvement in the school funding issue immediately spun Douglas' comments to support their contention that there's nothing wrong with reliance on property taxes so long as the state increases the amount of money going to tax-poor school districts.
And so, Douglas is once again in eye of the storm -- and he isn't even on the bench.