What We Know About Judicial Elections in Ohio

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (CMBA) Task Force on Judicial Excellence (TFOJE) held its second public forum on Thursday, February 24, 2011, at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in the Moot Courtroom from 7 to 9 p.m.

The topic of this forum was: "What We Know About Judicial Elections in Ohio – creating a 'baseline' for judicial election processes in Ohio, and especially Cuyahoga County." In addressing this topic, the TFOJE aimed to discuss (a) a brief history of why we elect judges in Ohio; (b) the inherent conflicts in an elective system involving the judiciary; (c) what we know about how people make decisions in judicial elections; and (d) what can be done to help voters to make more informed judgments when voting for judge.

Speakers included Lawrence Baum, Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University, and Michael E. Solimine, the Donald P. Klekamp Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.  Professor Baum presented on his empirical studies of how and why voters select candidates in the voting booth. Professor Solomine is the most frequent author of law reviews on Ohio and its election of judges.

The forum was open to the public for comment.

Click images to view photos from the forum.

The CMBA was approved for 2.0 hours of CLE credit from the Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on CLE.

Advance registration was not required. There is no charge for the CLE credit.

Read articles by Lawrence Baum (below are links to summaries and the full articles)

Read articles by Michael Solomine (below are links to summaries and the full articles)

Read article by Hon. Joseph D. Russo (below is a link to the full article)

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