OHIO SUPREME COURT Candidate criticizes judges

O'Neill is running to finish an unexpired term on the high court.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- William O'Neill, a Democratic candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court, blasted the way in which the high court handled the state's school-funding case, saying the court should have considered a contempt-of-court action against state lawmakers.
"They dismissed the lawsuit without enforcing their order," O'Neill, a judge on the Warren-based 11th District Appeals Court, said Tuesday. Judge O'Neill first made the critical comments Monday at a rally for Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry in Wilmington, Ohio.
"I think, at a minimum, they should have had a contempt hearing," Judge O'Neill said of the high court. "Every court in the land knows how to do it, and for the Supreme Court of Ohio to abdicate [its] role as the third branch of government is unacceptable."
The high court has ruled three times in five years that the state's method of paying for public schools was unconstitutional.
The court has held that an over-reliance on property taxes has led to disparities between so-called rich and poor public school systems.
Then, in May 2003, the court ruled 5-2 to end the school-funding case and ordered state officials to fix the system. It then gave up jurisdiction and blocked any further action in the state court system.
Responses
Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer was unavailable to comment Tuesday, a court spokesman said.
Judge O'Neill's Republican opponent this fall, Justice Terrence O'Donnell, said judicial canons prevent him from addressing matters that might come before the high court.
But Justice O'Donnell of suburban Cleveland did say the school-funding case was concluded before he joined the court in 2003. Justice O'Donnell and Judge O'Neill are running for the right to finish the remainder of the term of former Justice Deborah Cook that ends in 2006. The general election is Nov. 2.
"My duty as a member of the supreme court is to be fair and impartial and not to prejudge any matter that might be before our court," Justice O'Donnell said.
Panel
Gov. Bob Taft created a committee to study the school-funding issue and to recommend new ways of paying for public schools. The panel is expected to recommend improvements by year's end, state officials said.
Last week, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Ohio Supreme Court's disciplinary counsel from enforcing parts of the Code of Judicial Conduct against Judge O'Neill.
That ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aldrich of Cleveland granted a request by Judge O'Neill, who was being investigated for allegedly violating some of the canons in his campaign against Justice O'Donnell.
The probe of Judge O'Neill by Jonathan E. Coughlan, disciplinary counsel, came after a complaint by the Cuyahoga County Republican Party.
News reports said Judge Aldrich declared unconstitutional the judicial restriction on declaring political identity, as well as a canon that restricts candidates in the way they use the term judge in literature if they are running for a different seat from the one they hold.
Coughlan said his office is reviewing the federal court's order and will consider an appropriate legal response.