Ohio Supreme Court justice won’t recuse from redistricting amendment case
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner says she won’t recuse herself from a case against the Ohio Ballot Board, despite her active lawsuit against the chair of the board, Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office requested that Brunner recuse herself from the case because of a federal suit in which she sued LaRose and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in their official capacities over a law passed in 2021 requiring judicial candidates, including supreme court justices, to have party affiliations listed alongside their names on ballots.
Brunner claimed violations of her equal protection, due process, and free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution, along with conflicts with the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct in which candidates are discouraged from participating in political activities in which judges or judicial candidates could be “perceived to be subject to a political influence,” and which requires judges to hold a “special obligation to ensure the judicial system is viewed as fair, impartial and free from partisanship.”
Because Brunner is actively involved in a lawsuit “where she alleges that Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is depriving her of her civil rights,” Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Blanton said in a letter to the court, she should recuse herself from the Ohio Ballot Board case, in which LaRose is being sued along with the rest of the board for summary language of a proposed redistricting constitutional amendment.
Challengers of the summary say the language, which is set to appear on November general election ballots as a summary of the actual constitutional amendment proposal, is misleading and violates the state constitution’s rules on ballot summaries and titles.
LaRose is the chair of the ballot board, and has taken credit for writing the summary language along with his staff.
“Because Justice Brunner chose to sue the Ohio Secretary of State in her own separate action, her impartiality to decide the claims against the Secretary of State in this proceeding might reasonably be questioned,” Blanton wrote to the court.
Ohio’s Code of Judicial Conduct states a judge can disqualify himself or herself “in any proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
Other current justices have been asked to recuse themselves and refused: Justice Patrick DeWine dismissed calls to remove himself from redistricting lawsuits involving his father, Gov. Mike DeWine, pertaining to the governor’s role on the Ohio Redistricting Commission. Justice Joe Deters did not recuse himself from Hamilton County cases dating back to his tenure as county prosecutor.
Deters did recuse himself from a six-week abortion ban lawsuit and one connected to the House Bill 6 scandal.
On Monday, Brunner responded, saying the request was “without merit” and that she would continue to participate in the redistricting amendment case.
“The request for my recusal fails to indicate that recusal is appropriate, and I therefore decline to recuse and will participate in the adjudication of this action,” Brunner wrote.
Susan Tebben is an award-winning journalist with a decade of experience covering Ohio news, including courts and crime, Appalachian social issues, government, education, diversity and culture. She has worked for The Newark Advocate, The Glasgow (KY) Daily Times, The Athens Messenger, and WOUB Public Media. She has also had work featured on National Public Radio.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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