Whistle blows on season; legal toss-up continues

The Ohio Supreme Court is expected to hear part of the case.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- A dispute over the eligibility of a standout Salem high school football player is still going strong even though the season is over.
Richard Justin Johnson, 19, who goes by J.J., went to court earlier this year after the Ohio High School Athletic Association first approved -- and then revoked -- his eligibility to play.
The association normally bars 19-year-old students from participating in sports. Johnson applied for and got a waiver from the association because he has a learning disability. But after another school district complained, the association said the waiver was for marginal players only.
Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge David Tobin initially issued a temporary restraining order that allowed Johnson to play. Judge Tobin later denied a preliminary injunction for Johnson, which blocked him from playing.
But the Seventh District Court of Appeals quickly blocked Tobin's decision and then issued a stay Oct. 13 that allowed Johnson to keep on playing.
Salem's losing football season ended in late October, which might appear to be the end of the case. But that's not so.
Christopher J. Baronzzi, Johnson's lawyer, said he is working on three legal responses from the earlier proceedings. One of them would go back as far as the athlete's request for a permanent injunction that Judge Tobin still has not heard.
Why this still matters
Baronzzi said there are two factors involved in keeping the case alive. One is that Johnson may also go out as a runner for Salem's track and field team this spring. That would again involve an exemption for Johnson from the association.
The second issue is that the association could impose penalties on Johnson or the team.
A different issue is that that the association has filed a writ of prohibition with the Ohio Supreme Court that could shape Ohio law. Normally, cases move from the local courts to appeal courts to the state's highest court.
A writ of prohibition is a specialized action that asks the top court to essentially set state law under narrow circumstances, according to Dennis Whalen, the public information officer for the Supreme Court. The top court can grant or deny such requests.
The writ was actually filed against appeals court Judges Gene Donofrio, Joseph J. Vukovich and Cheryl L. Waite, who let Johnson play.
The association argues that the appeals court had no authority to issue a stay of the proceedings.
Robert Budinsky, the appeals court administrator and an attorney, wrote the brief to the state's top court. In it, Budinsky says the appeals court clearly had the right to stop Tobin's order. The stay, he wrote, is essentially the same as an injunction.
wilkinson@vindy.com