Judicial Selection in Ohio: Common Cause's Cause

Posted in Judges on Sunday May 18 2008 @ 5:38pm

Next up at the town hall meeting on judicial independence was Bill Woods state chair of Common Cause.

Mr. Woods gave a brief history of merit selection efforts in the Buckeye State. In the late 1980s, while the rest of the world mourned the breakup of Twisted Sister, interested parties were busy getting merit selection on the ballot.

This version of merit selection would involve a non-partisan blue-ribbon panel. Many states have leaned toward merit selection; Rhode Island made it so in 1993.

In 2000, Y2K was less of a problem than anti-election ads in Ohio. Sitting Justice Alice Robie Resnick was the target of an ultimately unsuccessful $2.7 million ad campaign by Citizens for a Strong Ohio (aka the Chamber of Commerce).

Mr. Woods had a nice shoutout to Justice at Stake and their recent publication, The New Politics of Judicial Elections in the Great Lakes States, 2001-08. Yes, we picked up our own personal copy.

He also discussed public financing efforts in North Carolina (as have we).

Meanwhile, court-o-rama thanks you all for your continued prayers, candlelight vigils, and burnt offerings to mac gods for the quick recovery of the laptop on which we type!

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