On November 7, 2023, Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice Jennifer Brunner filed this Complaint in US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Eastern Division). The case is Brunner v LaRose, n.d., 4:23cv-2180. It is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Benita Y. Pearson, an Obama appointee.
She is suing the State of Ohio, because:
#1: A new law in 2022 required candidates for Ohio Supreme Court Justice and candidates for State Appeals Court Judge to have a partisan political party label, while all elections for lower level judgeships are non-partisan; and
#2: Ohio Supreme Court Justice and State Appeals Court candidates must adhere to the same Code of Judicial Conduct while running for office to which the lower level judges must adhere; and
#3: Ohio requires justices and judges to resign if they are running for another partisan office that is not a judicial office; and
#4: Judge candidates are not allowed to run for and take office after the age of 70, even though many politicians, including current Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, have done so.
Brunner is a Democrat and a former Ohio Secretary of State. In 2020, she won election as an Associate Justice to the Ohio Supreme Court, winning in 40 of Ohio’s 88 counties as a non-partisan candidate.
In 2022, she was defeated in her run for Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court as a partisan candidate, winning only 18 counties.
Justice Brunner’s current term ends at the end of 2026. She implies that she might seek reelection. If she is reelected in 2026, her new term would start 36 days before her 70th birthday.
ELECT ALL JUDGES- NONPARTISAN VIA APPV — PENDING CONDORCET.
—
P-A-T
IMO, the electoral college is also a good idea for confirming judges.
States could have 100 electors drawn from the experienced jury pool (those who have actually served on a jury), every year, and every judicial nominee would be submitted to them for confirmation by secret vote.
Such an idea could be expanded to the federal level. Every state would have a number of judicial electors equal to the number of presidential electors. They could choose them any way they wish, but I recommend picking them at random from the jury pool. All judicial nominees to the federal bench would be submitted to them for confirmation by secret vote.
ALL SORTS OF PLAINTIFFS / DEFENDANTS / P+D LAWYERS / WITNESSES / JURORS / MEDIA / BAR ASSNS WILL/MAY HAVE COMMENTS / ENDORSEMENTS / ANTI-ENDORSEMENTS ABOUT CANDS — INCUMBENTS OR NEW
— ESP FOR HIGHER COURTS
I support partisan elections. I oppose approval voting, rancid commie voting, and French surrender monkeys.
Technically Ohio judicial elections for Supreme Court have always been partisan, but until 2021 the name of the party that nominated the candidate was left off the November ballot. The 2021 law said party labels should be on the November ballot.
Indeed they should!