Ohio Supreme Court Appointment Makes Court All Republican

Ohio Gov. John Kasich named Judge Mary DeGenaro to complete the 11 months left in the term of  Justice William O’Neill, a Democrat, who is running for governor.

According to the Toledo Blade, this will mean each member of the Ohio Supreme Court is a Republican.

Ohio Supreme Court Elections Leave Republicans in Control

Republicans won all three elections to the Ohio Supreme Court this year. "Republicans retain control of the state’s high court by a 6-1 margin", according to the Toledo Blade.

Ohio Judicial Selection

Ohio's Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor advocates several changes to the state's judical elections, including holding them on odd years, and moving judicial candidates closer to the top of the ballot. She also supports what cleveland.com describes as "voter education" about judicial candidates, which "will take shape Sept. 1 with the launch of a website at judicialvotescount.org that will allow candidates to post detailed profile information -- albeit on a voluntary basis."

Politics, Ideology and State Supreme Court Justices

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith L. French, an appointed Republican seeking to retain her seat in the Nov. 4 election, said at a GOP rally “I am a Republican and you should vote for me. You’re going to hear from your elected officials, and I see a lot of them in the crowd. Let me tell you something: The Ohio Supreme Court is the backstop for all those other votes you are going to cast. Whatever the governor does, whatever your state representative, your state senator does, whatever they do, we are the ones that will decide whether it is constitutional; we decide whether it’s lawful. We decide what it means, and we decide how to implement it in a given case. So, forget all those other votes if you don’t keep the Ohio Supreme Court conservative,” French said.

I like the frank recognition that state supreme courts can overrule the legislature and governor and the implicit acknowledgement that a justice's political philosophy can influence her rulings. I elaborate on these points in Originalism, Balanced Legal Realism and Judicial Selection: A Case Study