Home Rule in Ohio Takes a Big Hit

Art credit: salsa3.salsalabs.com

  

Here’s the Akron Beacon Journal editorial at Ohio.com here:

Oil and gas interests prevail again in Ohio

By the Beacon Journal editorial board 

Published: February 20, 2015 - 10:26 PM

The oil and gas industry won a narrow victory this week over the city of Munroe Falls. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the city’s local permitting and zoning ordinances are pre-empted by a 2004 state law giving control over drilling to the state Department of Natural Resources. Because Beck Energy Corp. has a state permit, it can proceed to drill on a site in Munroe Falls.

In its ruling, the majority effectively blocked local governments from acting as a voice for citizens legitimately concerned about the effects of oil and gas drilling. The new wells being drilled in Ohio represent nothing less than heavy industrial development, well within the boundaries of local control. Horizontally drilled and hydraulically fractured, each new oil and gas well can use millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and toxic chemicals.

In stopping Munroe Falls, the court missed an important opportunity to restore a balanced approach to industry oversight. In 2004, the state went too far in seizing control over oil and gas drilling from local governments, the legislature under the influence of the industry’s powerful lobby. That influence continues. The legislature is unable to pass even a modest increase in the state’s severance taxes to fairly compensate citizens for the one-time extraction of resources.

In a thoughtful dissent, Justice Judith Lanzinger noted that the 2004 state law did not expressly prohibit local zoning regulations on oil and gas drilling, arguing persuasively that the law leaves room for state and local input. She pointed to several examples in which the legislature set up a regulatory mechanism, then specifically excluded local control through zoning.

Important to her thinking is preserving the exercise of home rule powers through zoning, local governments acting to reflect citizens’ concerns and protect the general health and welfare of the community. That is in contrast to the state’s role, to deal with the highly technical aspects of drilling. Lanzinger pointed to other states, among them Colorado, Pennsylvania and New York, where the courts have found that state regulations and local zoning can work together. In other words, some local control over drilling does not necessarily conflict with state law.

Lanzinger thus invites the legislature to bring clarity to the situation, spelling out more precisely how local governments could use their home rule power to play a meaningful role in overseeing what can be a dangerous and environmentally damaging activity. She rightly describes the state now as “the thousand-pound gorilla.”

At the Statehouse, the oil and gas industry certainly has gotten its way. It lobbied hard for the Department of Natural Resources to take control of oil and gas drilling. Gov. John Kasich has tried unsuccessfully for four years to gain an increase in severance taxes. Perhaps the ultimate irony is that while Republicans control of all branches of state government in Ohio and often pay homage to local control in principle, many of them are most willing to crush it when it gets in their way.

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Cleveland Tea Party Calls for Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil To Step Down

With the complete election day failures of the Democrats in Ohio thanks to soon to be outgoing Ohio Democrat Party (ODP) Chairman Chris Redfern & his anchor of a candidate for Governor, Ed FitzGerald, that helped bring the whole statewide ticket down, the battle lines are being drawn for control of the Ohio Democrats. 

Showing the establishment Democrats & the establishment Republicans are equally sleazy when it comes to backroom deals and rigging the process, Senator Sherrod Brown's recent endorsement of his lobbyist friend Denny Wojtanowski as next ODP Chair was immediately squashed.

But this post is not to revel in the inner-party fighting of the Democrats in Ohio. 

This post is to serve the purpose of calling for Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil to immediately step down from the Ohio Supreme Court.

While every citizen, elected official & party activist has the right to voice their opinion - judges and judicial candidates are bound by the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct.  

Recently weighing in on the inner-party fight of the Ohio Democrat Party, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil, a Democrat, posted the following rants over the last several days....

O'Neil's above Facebook rants go way beyond the allowable activity for a sitting judge under the Ohio Code for Judicial Conduct.

Under Canon 2 Rule 2.4 (Pg 22) of the Ohio Code for Judicial Conduct it states.... (Emphasis Added)

RULE 2.4 External Influences on Judicial Conduct

(A) A judge shall not be swayed by public clamor or fear of criticism.

(B) A judge shall not permit family, social, political, financial, or other interests or relationships to influence the judge’s judicial conduct or judgment.

(C) A judge shall not convey or permit others to convey the impression that any person or organization is in a position to influence the judge.

[1] An independent judiciary requires that judges decide cases according to the law and facts, without regard to whether particular laws or litigants are popular or unpopular with the public, the media, government officials, or the judge’s friends or family. Confidence in the judiciary is eroded if judicial decision making is perceived to be subject to inappropriate outside influences.

From O'Neil's above rants it clearly shows that his political interests and relationships can effect his decision making process which can easily be perceived that he is subject to outside influences.

Further crossing the line of allowable activity, O'Neil's comments are in direct conflict with allowable political & campaign activity allowed under Canon 4 Rule 4.1.... (Emphasis Added)

RULE 4.1 Political and Campaign Activities of Judges and Judicial Candidates

[1] Though subject to public election, a judge plays a role different from that of a legislator or executive branch official. Rather than making decisions based upon the expressed views or preferences of the electorate, a judge makes decisions based upon the law and the facts of each case. Therefore, in furtherance of this interest, judges and judicial candidates must, to the greatest extent possible, be free and appear to be free from political influence and political pressure. Canon 4 imposes narrowly tailored restrictions upon the political and campaign activities of all judges and judicial candidates.

Participation in Political Activities

[3] Public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judiciary is eroded if judges or judicial candidates are perceived to be subject to political influence. Although judges and judicial candidates may register to vote as members of a political party, they are prohibited by division (A)(1) from assuming leadership roles in political organizations.

[4] Divisions (A)(2) and (A)(3) prohibit judges and judicial candidates from making speeches on behalf of political organizations or publicly endorsing or opposing candidates for public office to prevent them from abusing the prestige of judicial office to advance the interests of others.

In O'Neil's Facebook rants he talks about his speaking out on the Democrat Party fight for control of Ohio as a "matter of honor."  

"As a sitting Ohio Supreme Court Justice," stated Ralph King co-founder of the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots, "in reverence to the honor of serving on Ohio's highest court & integrity of the judicial process which he is to uphold, as a 'matter of honor' - Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil should very quietly, politely, stand up and resign his seat."