Menu

Editor’s Note: This is the second in an ongoing series on the November judicial elections. The first installment appeared in the Aug. 5 Buckeye Farm News and focused on the importance of being informed about judicial races.

So you know why you need to be informed about candidates for District Appellate Courts and the Ohio Supreme Court. Now the question is: "Just how do you go about getting informed?"

According to OFBF Director of Political Education Deering Dyer, the information is available, but you may have to do a bit of legwork to get it.

"Judicial candidates aren’t like legislative candidates," Dyer said. "Typically, when you elect someone to a post, you expect that person to act and vote in a way that represents your interests. Elected judges aren’t supposed to do that. They’re supposed to interpret the law and aren’t supposed to allow public opinion, a party affiliation or even their own personal viewpoints to influence their rulings."

There’s another issue to think about, as well, when you’re trying to determine the best judicial candidate. "A lot of the criteria we use to choose a judge are subjective – things we can’t concretely gauge that still matter – things like integrity, professional experience and appropriate conduct," Dyer said.

"The typical voter isn’t going to come in contact routinely with a judicial candidate the way we might be introduced to legislative candidates, so we, as voters, need to make the effort to have that contact so we can get a feeling for a judicial candidate ourselves," Dyer said.

That means attending candidate forums when those seeking judicial posts are going to be there. That means looking for candidates’ campaign literature. And it could mean a few hours surfing the Internet to see what partisan and nonpartisan groups say about judicial candidates. Many candidates have their own Web sites. For a listing of some Web sites to research, click on the Featured Links section at www.ofbf.org

If you do have an opportunity to talk directly with a judicial candidate, here are some possible questions to ask:

• How extensive is your practice in criminal, civil and family law?
• What do you consider your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a judge?
• What is your vision for the future of the judicial system?
• Why should voters support you rather than your opponent?

"Voters just need to take some time to become familiar with judicial candidates so they can make an informed choice when they go to the polls in November," Dyer said.

The next article in this series, which will appear in the Sept. 16 issue of Buckeye Farm News, will focus on who is running for open seats on the Ohio Supreme Court and in the state’s 12 district appellate courts.