Sunday, October 24, 2010
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
For being a nonpartisan contest, the race for chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court has included much debate over party labels and political balance.
Justice Maureen O’Connor, a Republican and the top vote-getter among all candidates in 2008, has proposed nonpartisan primaries for judges. Though candidates could tout their party affiliations during the campaign season, none would be listed on the ballot — a setup that would allow independent voters to cast ballots.
“What I’m seeking to do is to eliminate the political overtones that are present in our judicial elections,” she said during a debate at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University last month. “Anyone who believes that a “D” or an “R” designation has anything to do with how a judge should or does do their job, fulfills their oath of office, is wrong. Because politics should not enter into [the] decision-making process. It provides no meaningful information for the voters to receive.”
But Chief Justice Eric Brown, a Democrat who was appointed by Gov. Ted Strickland to complete Thomas Moyer’s term after his unexpected death earlier this year, thinks voters should know whether candidates are Democrats, Republicans or otherwise. And he thinks he offers a balance to the state’s top court, long dominated by the GOP.
“Unlike my colleague, I believe that voters are entitled to make up their own minds about what information is important to them and what information is not important to them,” he said during the Cleveland debate. “For many voters, party affiliation is a factor that they may choose to consider. ... It’s fair and appropriate that voters have all of the information so that they can choose among that information.”
O’Connor and Brown are facing off in next month’s general election to become chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Theirs is one of two contested races — the other pits Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger against challenger Mary Jane Trapp. Justice Paul E. Pfeifer is unopposed.
O’Connor and Brown both earned their law degrees from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. But their career paths took different directions.
O’Connor worked in private practice from 1981 to 1985, handling both criminal and civil cases. She served as a magistrate in Summit County Probate Court from 1985 to 1993, as a common pleas judge in that county from 1993 to 1995, and as Summit County prosecutor from 1995 to 1999.
She was Republican Gov. Bob Taft’s lieutenant governor and director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety from 1999 to 2003. She was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 2002 and re-elected two years ago.
Brown was elected to the board of Mayfield City Schools before finishing law school and served in that role for about 15 years.
For 11 years, he served as an assistant attorney general under Democrat Lee Fisher and Republican Betty Montgomery, where he led the office’s tobacco lawsuit efforts, including work on the $10 billion-plus tobacco settlement.
Brown also served as a judge and magistrate in Franklin County Common Pleas Court and, most recently, as a judge in that county’s probate court.
Brown and O’Connor take different approaches to the issue of campaign spending in judicial races.
During the Cleveland debate, Brown said more should to be done to address the issue.
“Ohio has attempted to address the issue in part by imposing limits on campaign contributions,” he said. “But many big businesses and special interests have found a way around those limits.”
In Ohio, campaign contributions have benefited one party, Brown said. And Republicans hold all seven seats on the high court.
But O’Connor said campaign contributions in judicial races should be kept in context. About $30 million was devoted to Supreme Court races in Ohio over the past 10 years. This year, the two major party candidates for Ohio governor will spend that much alone.
O’Connor also has called for increased disclosure of campaign finances — reporting of both contributions and solicitations.