Friday, June 22, 2012
YOUNGSTOWN
A judge running for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court criticized the current court members for going too far, at times, with some decisions.
What’s of particular interest is the criticism comes from Sharon Kennedy, a Butler County Domestic Relations Court judge and a state Republican Party nominee for a seat on the seven-member court, which is 6-1 in favor of Republicans.
“I think there have been cases that have come out that people question whether or not they’re creating new law,” Judge Kennedy told The Vindicator in a Thursday interview. “I’ve been asked those questions across the state in respect to how I would serve as a justice and how I view my role in the court. The role of a judge simply is [to] uphold law and not rewrite or legislate from the bench.”
When asked for specifics, Judge Kennedy declined to comment citing judicial canons that don’t permit her to discuss pending cases. She was then told that the matters were already adjudicated. But Judge Kennedy said, “These cases or these types of legal issues will return to the court again because I think [they’re] unsettled.”
Judge Kennedy made the comments when asked about Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett’s June 6 statement that her “experience as a judge, police officer, and someone who understands that the role of a justice is limited to the powers enumerated in the Constitution, is desperately needed on the Supreme Court.”
Bennett’s statement seemed to criticize the current Supreme Court justices — six of the seven won Republican primaries before winning general election races as nonpartisan candidates. In Ohio, most judges run in partisan political party primaries and then run as nonpartisans in general elections.
Of the five Supreme Court candidates running for three seats in the November election, Judge Kennedy was the only one “not recommended” by the Ohio State Bar Association. That means the association believes she is “not suited to perform the duties and responsibilities” of a Supreme Court justice.
Judge Kennedy was the first Supreme Court candidate since 1998 to get the designation.
The judge, who didn’t renew her membership with the OSBA last year, said she doesn’t know how the organization decided with her 26 years of diverse law experience — including four years as a police officer and 121/2 years as a judge — that she isn’t qualified.
The designation “shows how much her peers distrust Kennedy’s ability and competence to serve on the Supreme Court,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern. “While normally candidates highlight their qualifications for office, Kennedy has taken the unconventional approach of attacking her fellow Republicans on the bench, pushing forward with a radical, ideological Tea-Party-driven campaign. Kennedy knows that her only hope to make up for her lack of qualifications and judicial competence is to appeal to the most radical.”
Judge Kennedy is challenging Justice Yvette McGee Brown, the lone Democrat on the court who was appointed in January 2010 by then-outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat. Justice Brown, Strickland’s running mate in his failed re-election effort, was “highly recommended” by the state bar.
Two other incumbents, Justices Robert R. Cupp and Terrence O’Donnell, who ran in the primary as Republicans, are seeking re-election. William O’Neill, a former judge on the Warren-based 11th District Court of Appeals, is challenging Justice Cupp after winning the Democratic primary. Bob Price of Austintown, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, has since withdrawn as a candidate. The state party will select his replacement later this month.