Pat DeWine
Ohio Supreme Court decision clears the path for Preble County solar farms
Two Preble County solar farms got the go ahead from Ohio’s Supreme Court last week, but the case may prove to be more consequential than the dispute it settled. Writing for the majority, Justice Pat DeWine staked out a position that seemingly asserts judicial authority over state agency decisions. It reiterates and extends a doctrine […]
Ohio’s congressional redistricting case moves back to state supreme court
In an expected move, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday sent back an Ohio congressional redistricting appeal for reconsideration by the state’s highest court. Following its decision in Moore v. Harper, in which a majority of the court rejected the concept of the independent state legislature theory, the court entered a short order regarding the […]
Republicans take all three Ohio Supreme Court elections
Republicans appeared to be on their way to sweeping all three open seats on the Ohio Supreme Court Tuesday. The eventual Republican majority that's likely to create will have big implications in the state for years to come.
Campaigns brimming with optimism ahead of Tuesday election
In the final weekend of the midterms, every campaign believes the race is coming their way. Whether honest assessment or false bravado, they’ll readily explain how this poll or those returns are good for their prospects. From the outside looking in, it’s as though the biggest threat now is not a gaffe or a new […]
Ohio Supreme Court races will determine whether Republican gerrymandering gets rubber-stamped
What could be more bitterly ironic than Republican Ohio Supreme Court justices being elected in 2022 in reflection of the 54-46 differential of average Ohio voter patterns, and then that new partisan Republican court rubber-stamping gerrymandered Statehouse and Congressional districts that give the GOP undue supermajority advantages that far out-kick the same differential? That might […]
Despite reports of harm, DeWine refuses comment on abortion ban law
With Gov. Mike DeWine’s blessing, Ohio is in court, fighting to reimpose strict abortion regulations under a law he signed in 2019. But he’s refusing to publicly comment on the numerous stories of suffering it caused during the 11 weeks it was enforced. The law DeWine signed, Senate Bill 23, bans abortion after fetal cardiac […]
Governor DeWine’s son, appeals court judge run for Ohio Supreme Court, talk about integrity
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. The makeup of the upcoming Ohio Supreme Court is arguably the most important composition […]
Ohio GOP leaders push U.S. Supreme Court to give them free rein to rig elections with gerrymandering
All the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling party in Ohio is appealing for absolute power to rig federal elections in the state. Ohio Republicans want the Ohio Supreme Court removed as an arbiter of constitutional compliance for congressional district maps that break all the rules of fairness. They don’t give a damn […]
Analysis: Theory vs. reality. The Dobbs ruling and women’s health
When the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned abortion protections in Roe v Wade, the majority wrote that it’s up to the states to decide whether to allow abortions, restrict them or to ban them altogether. In other words, the six justices were saying that the U.S. Constitution gives no more protections to people who […]
3 Ohio justice candidates accused of breaking ethics, told PAC abortion isn’t Constitutional right
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Three Republican candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court are being accused by pro-choice advocates […]
In response to Dobbs, abortion-rights activists turn to state constitutions
On June 24, the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it couldn't find protections in the federal Constitution of a woman's right to abortion — in the process overturning nearly a half-century of decided law. Now abortion-rights activists are turning to state courts and arguing that those protections exist in state constitutions. And at least temporarily, they're having some success.
State constitutions have played second fiddle since the Civil War. Justice DeWine says that’s bad
In a speech last Tuesday, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine said that since the Civil War, state constitutions “too often” have become “secondary.” In the same speech, he highlighted that due-process protections in the Ohio Constitution are different from those in the federal 14th Amendment, which was passed in the wake of the Civil […]