According to Hannah News Service (May 23, 2003 article), the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee received a letter from Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer regarding judicial selection. In his letter, Moyer said “one area in which there was no firm consensus on future action was the manner in which we select Supreme Court Justices.” He said this “issue is not one capable of a quick and easy solution.” Despite the lack of consensus on merit selection, Moyer expressed optimism that interested parties will be able to come to a solution. He said that he believes “we can develop a system of selecting Supreme Court justices that satisfies these competing, yet complimentary, interests.”
The majority of the letter written by the Chief Justice centered on a forum he held in March. The Chief Justice sponsored a forum on “Judicial Impartiality: The Next Steps”, which included thirty-three business, labor, civic and political leaders from around the State. The purpose of the forum was to improve the selection of judges. Four workgroups were formed to craft specific recommendations to the Legislature. The work groups will address: judicial qualifications, judicial term lengths, campaign finance disclosure, and voter education/public funding. The work groups will not address judicial selection. The groups will be meeting over the next several weeks with the intention to have recommendations ready by the fall.
The “Judicial Qualifications” workgroup will discuss whether Ohio should increase minimum qualifications for judges. The “Term Lengths” workgroup will discuss the possibility of longer terms. The “Voter Education/ Public Funding” workgroup will discuss public funding of judicial campaigns and state funded voter education to reduce the importance of money in campaigns. The “Independent Campaign Finance Disclosure” workgroup will discuss state law regarding the breadth of disclosure, while protecting First Amendment Rights.
Tort Reform Receives Fourth Hearing
On Tuesday, May 27, 2003, Senate Bill 80, the tort reform legislation, received its fourth hearing before the Senate Judiciary on Civil Justice Committee.
William Weisenberg, Ohio State Bar Association, said that the OSBA has many concerns with the bill. He said that several facts should be determined before the Committee can seriously consider Senate Bill 80. Has there been a comprehensive analysis of civil filings in Ohio over the past decade and if so have those filings been in tort cases or others? Does the bill apply specifically to tort cases or to all civil actions? Weisenberg said that representatives from five committees of the OSBA will come together to meet to discuss these issues and by Monday the OSBA will have a position on each issue.