Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland Names Eric Brown As Chief Justice Who Will Potentially Hear Affidavit Of Prejudice Against Saffold In Sowell Murder Case
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland
Newly Appointed Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Brown
Deceased Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer
Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold
Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty
From the Metro Desk of the Determiner Weekly.com and
the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has appointed Franklin County Probate Judge Eric Brown, effective May 3, to replace Republican Ted Moyer, who died unexpectedly last week, as Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.
A Democrat, Brown is currently running for the seat this year against Republican Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O'Connor. Moyer, 70, could not seek reelection and was forced to retire at the end of this year because state law precludes judges from seeking office after 70. Moyer, however, often tried to circumvent that law by appointing retired judges as visiting municipal court judges throughout the state in place of judges who volutarilily recused themselves from cases due to conflict or bias. That practice has been challenged by some Democrats and outspoken lawyers as a method of alleged case fixing. In particular, some of those retired judges were accused of coming from various cities, issuing illegal rulings against politically connected defendants in criminal cases, and rushing back home without repercussions, and certainly with no fallout from voters as elected judges might experience. Whether Brown will continue that practice remains to be seen.
“I asked him to run,” said Strickland, in response to criticism that Brown was appointed because both are Democrats. The governor said also that he was simply following tradition where his predecessor, then Republican Gov. Bob Taft, appointed current Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terrence O'Donnell, and before that then Gov. George Voinovich, also a Republican, appointed sitting Justice Evelyn Lundberg . Both Lundberg and O'Donnell are conservative Republicans.
As of his recent appointment Brown is the only Democrat on Ohio's high court, which consists of a Chief Justice and six Justices elected by the citizens of the state of Ohio to six-year terms. Among other issues, the Justices hear appeals from the district courts throughout the state as a matter of right including those in which the death penalty has been imposed, cases of public or great general interest, and cases involving questions under the Constitution of the United States of America.
While a representative of Cuyahoga County's Democratic Party said that Brown is “the endorsed candidate,” Rob Frost, chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, could not be reached for comment.
Pursuant to state law, Brown will decide the affidavit of prejudice that attorneys for suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell on yesterday promised to file against Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold, a Black judge currently hearing the case after Cuyahoga Judge Timothy McGinty stepped down following admitted impropriety against Sowell.
Sowell is in custody on aggravated murder and other charges after the remains of 11 Black women were found in and around his home in Cleveland's predominantly Black Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.
Sowell's attorneys say Strickland Saffold showed prejudice via comments on blogs of the Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper, that were critical of one of the attorneys, though the judge's daughter, Sydney Saffold, 23, says she wrote the satire. But Prosecutors in the Sowell case say Sowell's lawyers are simply trying to get the trial moved out of Cuyahoga County, even though case law does not support any replacement judge vacating Strickland Saffold's denial of defense lawyer's motion for a change of venue to move the case elsewhere. That motion alleges prejudice after McGinty released to the Plain Dealer what Sowell's attorney's say are his confidential mental health records.
Strickland Saffold and her daughter Sydney are now suing the Plain Dealer and others claiming a violation of privacy for tapping into the judge's personal AOL account to allegedly determine where the aforementioned blog comments were coming from.
“I don't think that Judge Saffold has done anything to be taken off the case and the Plain Dealer has a vendetta against her,” said Community Activist Ada Averyhart. “Why would they single her out to meddle with her email account, and I hope she wins the lawsuit against the Plain Dealer.”
Averyhart says that the Plain Dealer targets Black judges while leaving judges like McGinty and Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Ann Keough alone. Keough is under fire by grassroots organizations for allegedly orchestrating a bogus resisting arrest verdict against a local Black journalist even though sole White male arresting officer Gerald Pace did not accuse the journalist of it, file a complaint, or even testify at trial. Hence, Keough is accused of denying the journalist her right to confront her non-existent accuser as mandated via the confrontation clause under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. She is also accused of harassing the journalist at her home and violating state law in an attempt to destroy her and silence free speech on issues pertinent to Cleveland's Black community.
“The Plain Dealer will protect judges like Judge McGinty and Judge Keough while continually harassing Judge Saffold,” said Averyhart.
Newly Appointed Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Brown
Deceased Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer
Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold
Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty
From the Metro Desk of the Determiner Weekly.com and
the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has appointed Franklin County Probate Judge Eric Brown, effective May 3, to replace Republican Ted Moyer, who died unexpectedly last week, as Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.
A Democrat, Brown is currently running for the seat this year against Republican Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O'Connor. Moyer, 70, could not seek reelection and was forced to retire at the end of this year because state law precludes judges from seeking office after 70. Moyer, however, often tried to circumvent that law by appointing retired judges as visiting municipal court judges throughout the state in place of judges who volutarilily recused themselves from cases due to conflict or bias. That practice has been challenged by some Democrats and outspoken lawyers as a method of alleged case fixing. In particular, some of those retired judges were accused of coming from various cities, issuing illegal rulings against politically connected defendants in criminal cases, and rushing back home without repercussions, and certainly with no fallout from voters as elected judges might experience. Whether Brown will continue that practice remains to be seen.
“I asked him to run,” said Strickland, in response to criticism that Brown was appointed because both are Democrats. The governor said also that he was simply following tradition where his predecessor, then Republican Gov. Bob Taft, appointed current Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terrence O'Donnell, and before that then Gov. George Voinovich, also a Republican, appointed sitting Justice Evelyn Lundberg . Both Lundberg and O'Donnell are conservative Republicans.
As of his recent appointment Brown is the only Democrat on Ohio's high court, which consists of a Chief Justice and six Justices elected by the citizens of the state of Ohio to six-year terms. Among other issues, the Justices hear appeals from the district courts throughout the state as a matter of right including those in which the death penalty has been imposed, cases of public or great general interest, and cases involving questions under the Constitution of the United States of America.
While a representative of Cuyahoga County's Democratic Party said that Brown is “the endorsed candidate,” Rob Frost, chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, could not be reached for comment.
Pursuant to state law, Brown will decide the affidavit of prejudice that attorneys for suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell on yesterday promised to file against Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold, a Black judge currently hearing the case after Cuyahoga Judge Timothy McGinty stepped down following admitted impropriety against Sowell.
Sowell is in custody on aggravated murder and other charges after the remains of 11 Black women were found in and around his home in Cleveland's predominantly Black Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.
Sowell's attorneys say Strickland Saffold showed prejudice via comments on blogs of the Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper, that were critical of one of the attorneys, though the judge's daughter, Sydney Saffold, 23, says she wrote the satire. But Prosecutors in the Sowell case say Sowell's lawyers are simply trying to get the trial moved out of Cuyahoga County, even though case law does not support any replacement judge vacating Strickland Saffold's denial of defense lawyer's motion for a change of venue to move the case elsewhere. That motion alleges prejudice after McGinty released to the Plain Dealer what Sowell's attorney's say are his confidential mental health records.
Strickland Saffold and her daughter Sydney are now suing the Plain Dealer and others claiming a violation of privacy for tapping into the judge's personal AOL account to allegedly determine where the aforementioned blog comments were coming from.
“I don't think that Judge Saffold has done anything to be taken off the case and the Plain Dealer has a vendetta against her,” said Community Activist Ada Averyhart. “Why would they single her out to meddle with her email account, and I hope she wins the lawsuit against the Plain Dealer.”
Averyhart says that the Plain Dealer targets Black judges while leaving judges like McGinty and Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Ann Keough alone. Keough is under fire by grassroots organizations for allegedly orchestrating a bogus resisting arrest verdict against a local Black journalist even though sole White male arresting officer Gerald Pace did not accuse the journalist of it, file a complaint, or even testify at trial. Hence, Keough is accused of denying the journalist her right to confront her non-existent accuser as mandated via the confrontation clause under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. She is also accused of harassing the journalist at her home and violating state law in an attempt to destroy her and silence free speech on issues pertinent to Cleveland's Black community.
“The Plain Dealer will protect judges like Judge McGinty and Judge Keough while continually harassing Judge Saffold,” said Averyhart.
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