Fischer has edge in race

Fischer has edge in race

for state Supreme Court

It has been more than two decades since Republican voters in Ohio had a choice in selecting the party nominee for Supreme Court, which is why there’s so much interest this year in a contested race.

There are two sitting appeals court judges with different but legitimate paths to the bench who are vying for the nomination in the March 15 GOP primary. Judge Colleen O’Toole has served on the 11th District Court of Appeals in Warren for nine years. Judge Pat Fisher has been on the 1st District Court of Appeals in Cincinnati for six years.

It’s not often that voters are presented with two contenders who by virtue of their appeals-court tenures are familiar with the workings of the Supreme Court. In the past, high-court aspirants have come from the lower courts or even without having served on the bench.

We, therefore, are encouraged by the judicial caliber of O’Toole and Fischer.

Granted, an hour-long interview with each of them, bolstered by a review of their resum s and campaign literature, may not seem like much, but Editorial Board questions are designed to reveal the temperament and intellectual capacity of the candidates. In that regard, they both came across well.

As so, we are left with the question that many primary voters are undoubtedly asking themselves: How do you decide on who should be given the advantage in this race?

The answer does not lie in the interparty war now being waged. Fischer was endorsed by the Ohio Republican Party, and O’Toole did not seek the endorsement. So, it isn’t surprising that Republican Party leaders are getting involved in this race.

We believe a better guide would be the Ohio Bar Association’s Commission on Judicial Candidates’ rating of O’Toole and Fischer and all the other candidates for the Supreme Court running this year.

The 25-member commission, chaired by the past president of the bar association, Jonathan Hollingsworth, rated Fischer as “highly recommended,” while giving O’Toole a “not recommended” rating.

Others on the list who do not have primary opposition: Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, Republican, “highly recommended”; Judge R. Patrick DeWine, Republican, “not recommended”; Judge John P. O’Donnell, Democrat, “recommended”; Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice, Democrat, “highly recommended”.

While we believe that the bar association rating for Fischer does give him the edge over O’Toole, we are hard-pressed to understand why she fared so poorly. In our interview with her, she dealt with the issues – as much as she could within the confines of the judicial canons – in a knowledgeable, straightforward manner.

We were particularly impressed with her commitment to transparency and openness and her contention that judicial candidates should be allowed greater freedom in expressing their views on important issues.

Transparency and openness are articles of faith for journalists, and we have long bemoaned the fact that the judiciary is less open than other branches of government.

That said, the bar association ratings do put the race in a different context when it comes to making a decision. Voters faced with two candidates who are not only qualified but who clearly articulate their reasons for wanting to serve on the Supreme Court may refer to the Ohio Bar Association’s evaluation for guidance.

In that regard, Judge Fischer has the advantage. It is noteworthy that he is the former president of the Ohio Bar Association and the Cincinnati Bar Association and serves on the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission and co-chaired an Ohio Supreme Court task force.

One of the main planks of his platform is to eliminate waste by not accepting unnecessary services or items that the state may offer to perform his duties.

And what would certainly be music to the technologically savvy lawyers, Fischer believes the Supreme Court should consider providing justices with electronic gadgets, such as iPads, so they can access cases and briefs without having to go through reams of paper.

As we said at the outset, we believe that both candidates are qualified to serve on the highest court in the state but that Judge Fischer has the edge by virtue of his Ohio Bar Association rating.