Justice Pat Dewine to review redistricting case
COLUMBUS – Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat Dewine said he won’t recuse himself from reviewing state House and Senate maps approved by his father Gov. Mike Dewine as a member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission.
“There is no basis for me to do so,”
Pat Dewine said in a text message, explaining that the governor was one of seven members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which drew maps for Ohio Statehouse districts. Therefore, Mike Dewine had “considerably less influence” over the maps than he would over a state department.
Mike Dewine was one of five Republicans who approved the maps over the objections of the commission’s two Democrats.
Three lawsuits have been filed against those maps, which would give Republicans a veto-proof majority in the Ohio Legislature. Each accuses the mapmakers of violating anti-gerrymandering principles approved by voters in
2015.
The Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct requires a judge to disqualify himself from “any proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” That includes when a judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party to the case.
“This really isn't even a close call,” Pat Dewine said of his decision, first reported by Spectrum News. He added that each Ohio Supreme Court justice is a member of a political party and will need to set partisan association aside to hear the case.
“The reality is that the redistricting case is going to be adjudicated by seven members of the Ohio Supreme Court,” he said.
Democrats disagree with Dewine's decision.
“The Dewine family can't seem to help themselves when it comes to bending the rules to fit their own political interests,” Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Matt Keyes said. “Even though Justice Dewine has recused himself before on cases involving his father, they're deciding to play by a different set of rules now that the political future of our state is at stake.”
Pat Dewine was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 2016, and his father was elected governor in 2018. Before that, Mike Dewine served as state attorney “The Dewine family can’t seem to help themselves when it comes to bending the rules to fit their own political interests. Even though Justice Dewine has recused himself before on cases involving his father, they’re deciding to play by a different set of rules now that the political future of our state is at stake.”
Matt Keyes,
general. Their relationship is one Pat Dewine has had to navigate, deciding when to recuse himself for a conflict of interest and when to remain on the case.
Pat Dewine recused himself from a case on whether to delay the state's 2020 primary amid COVID-19, a decision made by Mike Dewine's state health department. Dewine also recused himself from weighing in on whether Mike Dewine had the power to stop $300 in weekly federal unemployment benefits early.
Pat Dewine said he stepped away from those cases out of an abundance of caution because Mike Dewine was the primary or exclusive decisionmaker.
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.