Litigation

New Turn in Ohio: No ?R? or ?D? on Judicial Ballots

By Raheem Dawodu

In a story that we have followed here at Gavel Grab, the Ohio Supreme Court has changed course, and will continue to bar  judicial candidates from declaring their political party during general elections. The decision came less than a month after the state Supreme Court revised the Ohio Judicial Code of Conduct to allow party labels on the ballot.

According to the Metro Blog of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, the original decision to end the ban  came after a 19-member task force, responsible for aligning the Ohio Judicial Conduct Code with the 2008 ABA Model Code Revision, recommended this change.

A shroud of secrecy surrounds the court’s decision. According to the Plain Dealer:

Court spokesman Chris Davey on Tuesday said the court will not explain to the public why it held the secret deliberations after initially welcoming public input. He insisted the court did not bow to “any external communication.”

It is worth noting that this provision only affects the general election. Ohio judicial candidates must run in party-conducted  primary elections to be chosen for the general election ballot. 

Full post as published by The Gavel on January 23, 2009 (boomark / email).