ANNUAL REPORT - Supreme Court - State of Ohio

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on the As 2012 wound down, it was clear the Ohio Supreme Court was undergoing a period of transition. Employees said farewell to three justices and geared up to welcome three new ones. Butler County Domestic Relations Court Judge Sharon L. Kennedy, who defeated Justice Yvette McGee Brown in the November election, was sworn in to office on December 7. Gov. John Kasich appointed Tenth District Court of Appeals Judge Judith L. French on December 20 to the seat being vacated by retiring Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton. Former Eleventh District Court of Appeals Judge William M. O’Neill, who defeated Justice Robert R. Cupp in November, took the oath of office on December 27. The third incumbent justice on the ballot, Terrence O’Donnell, was re-elected to a second six-year term by defeating state Sen. Michael J. Skindell. 7
With those restrictions, Justice Stratton decided to hang up her robe so she could focus on advocating and fundraising for court reforms. There was sort of this ‘GULP’ you know. There is really the end of the arguments. I’m not going to be sitting up here anymore, but there was also a sense of relief. — Justice Stratton As the second longest serving member of the court, Justice Stratton was appointed by then-Gov. George Voinovich in 1996. Ohio voters elected her to three six-year terms on the court, the most recent in 2008. Her current term was to expire on January 1, 2015. She heard her last case at the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center on December 4. “There was sort of this ‘gulp’ you know. There is really the end of the arguments. I’m not going to be sitting up here anymore. But there was also a sense of relief,” Justice Stratton said. Justice Stratton began her legal career as a trial lawyer in the courtrooms of central Ohio. In 1989, she was the first woman to be elected judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, where she became known as “The Velvet Hammer” for her approach to sentencing in serious felony cases. Her side job became her true passion during the past decade on the court. Justice Stratton made it her mission to focus on veterans’ courts and other court reforms, including mental health and criminal and juvenile justice. “Those were becoming an increasingly larger part of my life, and a lot more important,” Justice Stratton said. “My job gave me a lot of ability to get involved in those reforms, but I had gotten to the point on a national level where I think I had enough experience that I could continue without the actual job and all of its restrictions.” Justice Cupp was elected to the Supreme Court in 2006. Before that, he served on the Third District Court of Appeals. Much of his 30-year legal career thus far was committed to effective public service. Before becoming a judge, Justice Cupp served 16 years as a member of the Ohio Senate, beginning in 1985 and ending in 2000 with the advent of Ohio’s legislative term limits. Before his election to the General Assembly, Justice Cupp served as a Lima city prosecutor and assistant director of law from 1976 to 1980 and twice was elected Allen County commissioner, serving from 1981 through 1984 and 2001 through 2002. Justice Cupp said he made the switch from making laws to interpreting them because he said judges were misunderstanding the statutes that were passed. “I get asked a lot what I like better, serving in the legislature or serving as a judge or a justice, and quite frankly they are very different roles, and I have liked them both enormously,” he said. “Of course, I liked making law and developing public policy and representing my constituents, but just as important are the cases that come in attempting to resolve disputes about what the law means and how the law applies to particular facts and circumstances.” 8
Page 1 and 2: ANNUAL REPORT
Page 4: The stainless steel gavel that sits
Page 7 and 8: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 OF THE OHIO SUPREME
Page 9 and 10: Staff NOTES The Ohio State Bar Foun
Page 14 and 15: Justice McGee Brown was appointed t
Page 16 and 17: Court Approved Numerous Rule Change
Page 18 and 19: APRIL 4. The Ohio Judicial College
Page 20 and 21: SEPTEMBER 27. Cuyahoga County Commo
Page 22 and 23: 2012 ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE CHIEF
Page 24 and 25: CASES FILED IN 2012 Jurisdictional
Page 26 and 27: CASES PENDING DECEMBER 31, 2012 JUR
Page 28 and 29: PRACTICE OF LAW CASES: CASES FILED
Page 30 and 31: PRACTICE OF LAW CASES: FINAL DISPOS
Page 32 and 33: TIME TO DISPOSITION JURISDICTIONAL
Page 34 and 35: 7. See pages 24-25, for the types o
Page 36 and 37: OHIO JUDICIARY/SUPREME COURT FISCAL
Page 38 and 39: Barbara Howard Stephanie Hunter McM
Page 40 and 41: Douglas Francis Hon. Jeffrey Hooper
Page 42 and 43: Justice Duncan was a jurist of many
Page 44 and 45: Published by The Supreme Court of O

ANNUAL REPORT - Supreme Court - State of Ohio

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