7th District Court of Appeals race raises experience issue

A TV commercial encourages cash-strapped motorists to use an insurance company that provides the absolute minimum coverage required by law. If the highest priority is to minimize out-of-pocket expenses, that's arguably the way to go.
But in most things, the absolute minimum required by law isn't enough. And when it comes to picking judges who will decide cases that affect the lives, the freedom and the fortunes of ordinary citizens, settling for the minimum is a decidedly bad idea.
In the race for the Democratic nomination for the 7th District Court of Appeals, the candidates are Atty. Timothy E. Franken, 57, chief assistant of the criminal division in the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office, and Atty. Christopher Sammarone, 33, who has two years in a Youngstown law firm, three years as general counsel for a business and two years as an independent private practitioner. Both are of Canfield.
The court's area
Ohio's 88 counties are divided into 12 appellate districts. The 7th District comprises eight counties: Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe, Noble and Mahoning, in which the court sits. These courts hear appeals of criminal and civil cases from the common pleas, municipal and county courts and have original jurisdiction to hear various writs, including those of habeas corpus and mandamus.
It is a court where, ideally, lawyers of considerable experience in the state's courtrooms -- as attorneys or as judges -- find a home in which a new level of legal scholarship is valued. We will acknowledge that the ideal has not always been met.
It is not a very good place for a young and inexperienced lawyer to settle.
Indeed, state law now requires a minimum of six years of active practice, a threshold Sammarone has crossed, but there is legislation working its way through the General Assembly that would double that requirement to 12 years.
Some have argued that that if Sammarone were nominated and the legislation passed, he would be ineligible to be elected or to serve. We find that unlikely, the legislature being generally disinclined to negate the results of an election. If the legislation progresses through the General Assembly, and if this district or any other has nominated or elected a candidate who falls short of the new requirement, the legislation would almost surely be amended to include a grandfather clause.
Nonetheless, increasing the experience requirement for an appellate court judge from six years to 12 seems to make good sense.
For many, the last resort
The vast majority of cases in Ohio make it no further than the appellate court. A relatively small number are taken to the next step, the Ohio Supreme Court.
Sammarone is an obviously bright attorney and clearly a hard worker. He is fond of drawing on his experiences as a player on some of Youngstown State University's championship football squads to illustrate the value he places on hard work, discipline and goal-setting. But to trade on his sports analogy, youth is an asset on the filed, but most players know that they are not yet ready to replace the coach.
Sammarone says he wants to be a young leader, and so he should be. But that doesn't mean leading from a court of appeals bench, at least not yet.
Franken notes that he has tried 12 capital murder cases, more than 100 other felony cases and has handled more than 40 appellate cases. Sammarone's experience doesn't begin to compare in any of those areas.
Sammarone notes that only about a third of the cases that reach the appeals court are criminal cases, but Franken has also handled civil, domestic and probate courses during his career.
And unlike Sammarone, during his endorsement interview with Vindicator editors, Franken discussed in some detail cases that have been handled by the appellate court with which he disagrees.
In November, the winner of this primary will face the incumbent, Judge Mary DeGenaro of Poland, who is unopposed in the Republican primary. Looking forward to a Franken-DeGenaro match-up, The Vindicator endorses Franken in the May 2 primary.