Senate Republicans vote alone to oust Justice O’Neill
Ohio Supreme Court Justice William M. O’Neill, would-be governor of Ohio, denounced it as “street theater on a snowy afternoon.”
Majority Ohio Senate Republicans, joined by Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Boardman, another gubernatorial candidate, voted 25-8 on Wednesday to begin the effort to remove O’Neill from the high court.
Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, said he hoped the resolution would at least send a message to other judges contemplating a run for non-judicial office since it ultimately means little.
O’Neill has submitted his resignation from the court effective Jan. 26, and House leaders have said that chamber will not act on the resolution carried by Obhof.
Obhof tried to present a case that O’Neill has violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by running for a partisan office and expressing opinions on issues while still sitting in judgment on cases before the court.
“I don’t even think this is a close call,” Obhof told his colleagues. “We have given Justice O’Neill nearly three months to do the right thing (and resign).”
O’Neill tried to shoot down fears expressed by some Senate Republicans that he might try to rescind his resignation while still running for governor.
But he said “I am not going on bended knee to (Gov.) John Kasich to ask for my letter back.” He insists he is not officially a candidate until he files paperwork to run for governor before the Feb. 7 filing deadline.
“What happened today, while 10 people died as a result of a drug overdose, is that the Ohio Senate just wasted everyone’s time passing a meaningless resolution that they knew was dead on arrival in the House,” O’Neill said.
“Of course it was politics. They don’t want me to be governor of Ohio and they certainly don’t want me out talking about legalizing marijuana. They ignore the real issues in the state of Ohio and do street theater on a snowy afternoon.”
Schiavoni was the only Democrat to vote with the Republicans. “The timing of this is a little off ... he said he is going to resign. There are some politics being played here today that he should resign. But, I don’t want judges running for office from the bench.”
Asked about Schiavoni’s vote, O’Neill responded, “That’s a vote he will come to regret.”
Some Democrats objected to the Senate resolution, saying the chamber was overstepping its bounds and any action against O’Neill should come from the judicial branch, not the General Assembly, to preserve the separation of powers. A two-thirds vote of the House and Senate would be required to call O’Neill before the legislature to defend himself before any potential vote on removal.
Some Republicans, including Obhof, also objected to O’Neill’s “Facebook fiasco,” a post in which he revealed he’d had consensual sex over the years with “50 very attractive females,” which came amid the national discussion over the sexual assault and harassment of women. O’Neill later apologized for and removed the post.
His departure will leave Sen. Sherrod Brown as the sole Democratic statewide officeholder in Ohio.
In other matters Wednesday:
The Senate voted 31-2 to waive the $67 concealedcarry permit fee for active military members and honorably discharged veterans, who would be allowed to prove firearms competency through their military experience. The total amount of fees to be waived statewide is capped at $1.5 million.
The House voted 58-33 to convene a joint session with the Senate on March 6 to hear Kasich’s final State of the State address at Otterbein University in Westerville.