Elkins v. Scripps Media, Inc. (In re Gallagher)

120 N.E.3d 853, 155 Ohio St. 3d 1251, 2018 Ohio 5428
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided July 24, 2018·No. No. 18-AP-074·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

O'Connor, C.J.

*1251{¶ 1} Monica L. Dias, counsel for the defendants, filed an affidavit with the clerk of this court pursuant to R.C. 2701.03 seeking to disqualify Judge Kelly Ann Gallagher and all other judges of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas from the above-referenced case. Judge Gallagher voluntarily recused herself, and therefore, Ms. Dias's affidavit to disqualify Judge Gallagher was previously dismissed as moot.

{¶ 2} With respect to the remainder of the common pleas bench, Ms. Dias avers that the judges should be disqualified to avoid any appearance of bias or impropriety.

*854According to Ms. Dias, one of the plaintiffs, Trevor Elkins, is "very politically active" in the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party and "[b]ecause the vast majority of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judges are Democrats," a visiting judge from another county "who is immune from Cuyahoga County politics" should be appointed to "ensure and preserve impartiality and fairness in the proceedings." Mr. Elkins is also the mayor of Newburgh Heights, Ohio.

*1252{¶ 3} Administrative Judge John J. Russo submitted a response on behalf of the common pleas court. Judge Russo states that nothing in Ms. Dias's affidavit establishes that disqualification of the entire bench is warranted, and therefore, he requests that the affidavit be denied.

{¶ 4} As noted by Ms. Dias, the chief justice has disqualified entire benches of judges when the existence of a personal, professional, or political relationship between the judges and one of the parties to the underlying case could suggest to the reasonable person the appearance of bias or impropriety. For example, in In re Disqualification of Corrigan , 110 Ohio St.3d 1217, 2005-Ohio-7153, 850 N.E.2d 720, the chief justice disqualified an entire bench from hearing a case in which the plaintiff was a county commissioner who had a leadership role in local party politics. The chief justice noted that as a county commissioner, the plaintiff necessarily exercised considerable authority over the budget of the common pleas court and that it was alleged that as the former chair of a county political party, he had significant personal and political relationships with many judges. Based on those facts, the public could reasonably question whether any judge of that county's common pleas court would be able to render a decision based solely on the relevant law and facts.

{¶ 5} Similarly, in In re Disqualification of Celebrezze , 105 Ohio St.3d 1241, 2004-Ohio-7360, 826 N.E.2d 301, the chief justice disqualified an entire bench from the divorce case of an elected county officeholder who was alleged to have significant personal and professional connections to many judges in the county. And in In re Disqualification of Nadel , 47 Ohio St.3d 604, 546 N.E.2d 926 (1989), the chief justice disqualified all the judges of a common pleas court from hearing the case of a defendant charged with assaulting and kidnapping the wife and infant daughter of another judge of that court. In those matters, the chief justice determined that an objective observer might have reasonably questioned the judges' impartiality based on their close political or professional ties with the parties or the alleged victims, and therefore, disqualification of the entire bench was necessary to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

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Elkins v. Scripps Media, Inc. (In re Gallagher), 120 N.E.3d 853, 155 Ohio St. 3d 1251, 2018 Ohio 5428 (Ohio 2018).

120 N.E.3d 853 (Elkins v. Scripps Media, Inc. (In re Gallagher)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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