Supreme Court justice speaks in Van Wert

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith “Judi” French, who was in Van Wert Tuesday for a visit, took the opportunity to explain the state’s court system to Republicans, media, and students from Van Wert, Crestview, and Lincolnview high schools who attended a morning breakfast event at Willow Bend Country Club.

Justice French, who is seeking her second term as one of Ohio’s seven Supreme Court justices in 2020, was first appointed to the position by Ohio Governor John Kasich in 2013 to replace Evelyn Lundberg Stratton after serving eight years as a judge on the 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals based in Columbus. She was then elected to her first full six-year term as Supreme Court justice 2014.

Justice French said that, of the approximately 3 million lawsuits filed each year in Ohio, only about 8,000 of those are appealed. However, of those 8,000 cases, only about 80 get as far as the Ohio Supreme Court each year.

Noting that the Supreme Court chooses the cases it wants to hear, she added: “Those cases we do take in are the very cases that would impact your lives.”

However, some cases must be heard by the state’s highest court. Those include death penalty cases, tax disputes, and cases that could result in the discipline of judges and attorneys.

Justice French, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in history, and her law degree all from The Ohio State University, said she was at first unsure of whether she wanted to be a lawyer or a journalist.

“I ultimately went into law because I liked the advocacy piece (of being an attorney),” Justice French noted.

Unlike many appellate judges, French was never a trial judge, spending her early career as an attorney with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency writing appeals and arguing before appellate courts before being appointed to the 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals. Before she became a judge, she also worked in the office of former Ohio attorney general Betty Montgomery, and on the staff of former governor Bob Taft, where she also assisted in making governmental policy. 

Justice French, a Republican, explained to the students attending that Supreme Court justices are considered non-partisan for general election purposes, meaning they don’t get an “R” or “D” behind their names on the ballot.

“We don’t have that party label on our names, and that’s not the most significant thing, anyway,” she noted. “The most significant thing to know about a judge or justice on the ballot is their judicial philosophy.”

Explaining that judges and justices tend to have either “liberal” or “conservative” judicial philosophies, she said she is a conservative, explaining that philosophy as “conserving my power and authority, rather than using it liberally”.

While Justice French noted that she can speak on judicial issues, it’s difficult for her to say much about her opinion on controversial issues, since those issues may come before the Ohio Supreme Court someday.

“I’m allowed to speak freely, just as all you do,” she said. “But you also have the right to a fair trial, you have a right to unbiased judges, and so the more I speak, (the more) your rights are diminished.”

Justice French added that, for all but a handful of cases involving federal issues, the Ohio Supreme Court is the final court of appeals for its citizens, just as the state’s appellate courts are the final court of appeals for most of the approximately 8,000 appeals filed each year.

In addition to speaking and answering questions at the breakfast event, Justice French also appeared as a guest on the Mayor’s/Commissioners Corner radio show, which can be heard Sunday morning on WERT Radio or accessed on the Van Wert independent by clicking one of the buttons for those respective shows on the right side of the independent’s banner.

The justice also toured Van Wert Health, including its construction project, and spoke to Van Wert Rotary Club at noon at Willow Bend.