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O’DONNELL
CHOSEN TO REPLACE COOK
As we predicted in the last Political Edge he would, Gov. Bob Taft called
on former Court of Appeals Judge Terrence O’Donnell to take the
place of former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Deborah Cook. Cook was confirmed
earlier this month by the U.S. Senate to a seat on the 6th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, and O’Donnell was sworn in last week to succeed
her.
O’Donnell was a candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court in 2000, when
he failed in his bid to unseat incumbent Justice Alice Resnick. After
a contentious campaign that included a concerted effort by the business
community through the Chamber-created Citizens for a Strong Ohio to
educate Ohioans about the court and the candidates, Resnick defeated
O’Donnell 57%-43%.
In his 2000 campaign, O’Donnell was endorsed by the Ohio Chamber
of Commerce PAC over Resnick because of his strong belief in keeping
Ohio’s three branches of government separate. He is an ardent advocate
of judicial restraint and should be a philosophical ally of the current
court majority.
Justice O’Donnell served two separate stints on the Court of Appeals
between 1995 and February of this year. He opted not to seek another
full term last year in order to concentrate on running for the Supreme
Court in 2004, and has been serving as a visiting judge throughout Ohio
since February. Prior to joining the Appeals Court bench, he was a common
pleas court judge in Cuyahoga County for 15 years. Before becoming a
judge he was in private practice and was a law clerk for former Ohio
Supreme Court Justice J.J.P. Corrigan.
P.a.C.E. recently completed evaluations of all twelve district courts
of appeals in a manner similar to our Business Evaluation of the Ohio
Supreme Court. During his time on the Appeals Court bench, O’Donnell
compiled a pro-business score of 52%. Among the eight categories of
case law scored in our evaluation, he scored highest in the areas of
medical malpractice (100%) and insurance (80%) law. His weakest scores
were in environmental (0%) and workers’ compensation (0%) law.
O’Donnell’s appointment means that Ohioans will be electing
a majority of the seven-member Supreme Court next year. O’Donnell
will have to stand for election to serve out the rest of the term to
which Justice Cook was elected in 2000, and Chief Justice Thomas Moyer
and Justice Paul Pfeifer will also stand for re-election. In addition,
there will be one open seat contest because Justice Francis Sweeney
will be at least 70 years old and therefore barred by the Ohio Constitution
from running for re-election.
O’Donnell, Moyer, and Pfeifer are all Republicans, though Pfeifer
shares a philosophy of judicial activism with Democrats Resnick and
Sweeney. Look for a discussion of potential Democratic challengers to
O’Donnell, Moyer, and Pfeifer and potential open seat candidates
of both parties in an upcoming issue of The Political Edge.
MERIT SELECTION FOR JUDGES – LONG SHOT OR LIKELY?
Could we have seen the end of Supreme Court elections in Ohio? Did the
tireless efforts of the business community in 2002 that gave the campaigns
of Justice Evelyn Stratton and Maureen O’Connor the critical mass
they needed to post victories set the stage for the downfall of head-to-head
contests for the state’s highest court?
If Sen. Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls) has his way, the answer to
both questions could be, “Yes.” But don’t bet on it happening.
Coughlin has introduced SJR 7, a resolution that, if passed,
would put before the voters a constitutional amendment that would result
in Ohio selecting its Supreme Court justices through a nominating commission
process instead of head-to-head elections.
Ohioans have considered this question before, the last time in 1987.
That year, a similar merit selection ballot issue was soundly defeated.
Issue 3 lost nearly 2-to-1 and was supported by a majority of voters
in only eight of the state’s 88 counties.
As it did in 1987, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce supports merit selection
of judges and affirmed its support for the idea by providing proponent
testimony on SJR 7 before the Senate State and Local Government
and Veterans’ Affairs Committee last week.
The Chamber believes merit selection is the best method for preserving
impartiality of Supreme Court justices. In addition, merit selection
is supported by the Chamber because it preserves the public’s right
to vote on justices in retention elections, it changes the focus of
judicial selection from name identification to qualifications, it carefully
balances the interests of attorneys and non-attorneys and the two political
parties in the selection process, and is a constitutional solution for
reforming judicial elections amongst an array of unconstitutional options
that would only serve to restrict the right of free speech.
Joining the Ohio Chamber in support of the measure is the Ohio State
Bar Association, while the League of Women Voters of Ohio has long supported
merit selection in concept. But these groups also supported 1987’s
Issue 3. What killed Issue 3 was opposition by both major political
parties, and neither has yet weighed in on SJR 7. Also an active
opponent in 1987 was the Ohio AFL-CIO.
Should Coughlin muster enough support among his legislative colleagues
to get the amendment on the ballot, it’s not clear that voters
are yet willing to give up the right to elect their judiciary.
Despite the fact that voter participation in court elections is routinely
far lower than for other offices on the ballot at the same time and
that voters consistently claim to not know enough about the candidates,
a recent poll portends an uphill battle for merit selection. The poll,
conducted last October by Opinion Strategies Inc. for the League of
Women Voters of Ohio found that 51% of respondents disagreed that Ohio
Supreme Court justices should be appointed by merit selection rather
than by popular vote.
TRIAL LAWYERS COME OUT SWINGING AGAINST TORT REFORM
Earlier this month, Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus) introduced SB 80,
legislation that would cap jury awards for non-economic and punitive
damages, provide a ten-year statute of repose, and limit contingency
fees for plaintiffs’ lawyers. The bill is strongly backed by the
Ohio Chamber and would bring much-needed fairness to the state’s
civil justice system while protecting the jobs of Ohioans.
Predictably, however, the Ohio Academy of Trial Laywers opposes this
bill. (After all, the bill does limit contingency fees.) The OATL also
immediately launched a media campaign designed to bring pressure on
Stivers and others legislators to weaken or stop the bill.
A television ad asserting that the bill “discriminates against
women, children, and older Ohioans” and urging viewers to call
Stivers and “tell him that he represents real people” ran
for a week in the Columbus market. Stivers’ office said they received
only a few dozen calls and that a number of these were from OATL members.
THREE OHIOANS ON “NEW DEMOCRATS TO WATCH”
LIST
The Democratic Leadership Council, a national network of elected officials
and community leaders, has identified three Ohio Democrats as rising
stars within the DLC movement.
The three are State Sen. Eric Fingerhut (Cleveland), Cleveland Mayor
Jane Campbell, and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman. Each made the list
of “100 New Democrats to Watch” the DLC released last week.
The list is made up of elected officials outside of Washington, D.C.
and below the rank of governor dedicated to “pursuing modern means
to advance traditional Democratic values.”
The DLC’s mission is “to promote public debate within the
Democratic Party…and to modernize the progressive tradition in
American politics.” In short, the DLC is the party’s moderate
wing.
Fingerhut is a second term senator who also briefly served in Congress.
He is the ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee and
an announced candidate seeking the Democratic nomination to run against
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R) next year. He has compiled a cumulative
P.a.C.E. pro-business voting record of 86% during his General Assembly
tenure.
Campbell is in the middle of her first term as Cleveland’s mayor.
She was previously a Cuyahoga County commissioner and a state representative.
In her last two terms in the Ohio House, 1993-94 and 1995-96, she had
15% and 57% pro-business scores, respectively.
Coleman is currently seeking re-election to a second term as mayor of
Columbus and is unopposed in this quest. When he won the post in 1999,
he became the first Democratic mayor of the city in 38 years and its
first-ever black mayor.
All three are mentioned when names of the strongest potential Democratic
statewide candidates come up, and Fingerhut is already making his bid.
Campbell and Coleman no doubt top the list of candidates Ohio Democratic
Party Chairman Denny White would like to see run in the open 2006 gubernatorial
contest.
While both have publicly avoided discussing any statewide ambitions,
Coleman recently hired a full-time political consultant to maximize
the exposure his city gets during the 2004 presidential campaign. Such
an effort would also no doubt raise Coleman’s profile. He has also
volunteered to run the eventual nominee’s Ohio campaign.
FIRST PHILLIP MORRIS, THEN MCDONALDS, NOW…OREOS?
When Sen. Stivers introduced SB 80, the Ohio Academy of Trial
Lawyers claimed that lawsuit abuse is a “non-existent problem.”
Then comes word of a lawsuit filed last week that seeks to ban the sale
of Oreo cookies to children in California. The attorney who filed the
suit believes that trans fat – an ingredient contained in Oreos
that makes the cookies crispy and the filling creamy – is dangerous
for children to eat. He voluntarily dismissed the suit just days later,
claiming that the publicity the lawsuit itself generated accomplished
his goal of making people aware of trans fat. Lawsuit abuse? Non-existent?
Obviously…
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