What others are saying about Strickland’s appointment of Eric Brown to the Ohio Supreme Court

“Gov. Ted Strickland's move yesterday to fill the seat of the late Ohio Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer with Franklin County Probate Judge Eric Brown was surprising and disappointing.

 

“Strickland had options in dealing with this vacancy, and he chose the one that crassly interjects partisanship into the Ohio Supreme Court. Brown, backed by Strickland, is running for the chief-justice seat in November against Republican Justice Maureen O'Connor.

 

“Strickland called Brown ‘uniquely qualified’ for the role - high praise for someone who has yet to complete a full term as a judge, either on the Probate Court or when he served before in the General Division of the Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

 

“In fact, when he ran for the Probate Court in 2008, his opponent, incumbent Probate Judge Lawrence A. Belskis, charged that Brown was seeking the Probate seat only so that he could use it to run from cover in a 2010 bid for the Supreme Court. Brown denied this and vowed that he was committed to being a Probate judge and intended to serve his full term. Soon after, he reneged on that promise.

 

“And some parts of Brown's resume simply are opaque. In 2002, Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery notified Brown that she intended to fire him from his post in her office for reasons that never have been made public. He negotiated a departure under circumstances that remain unexplained.

 

“By accepting the appointment as chief justice, Brown gives up his seat on the Probate Court and will not be able to return to it if he loses in November. Given his interest in job security, the likelihood is that Brown only agreed to accept the appointment with a promise from the governor that if Brown loses to O'Connor, he will be appointed to the seat O'Connor vacates when she moves up to chief justice.

 

“Moyer, who died April 2, will be remembered for his push to combat the perception that the court is driven by politics. He worked tirelessly to restore the reputation of a court that once was a laughingstock for its lack of professionalism and its blatant partisanship. It took Strickland all of 12 days to begin undermining Moyer's 23-year effort.

 

…

 

“The governor had an opportunity to honor [Moyer’s] legacy and rise above partisanship in filling this vital judicial post. He chose to do otherwise.” (Editorial, Columbus Dispatch, 4/15/10)

“Following Moyer's death, Strickland described him as ‘dignified, respectful (and) thoughtful,’ and in a statement, the governor said, ‘(Moyer) spoke passionately and convincingly for reducing the influence of money in judicial elections.’

 

“Yet when Strickland had an opportunity to keep out politics — and the money that follows it — from the current chief justice campaign, he failed.

 

…

 

“Forgive us for expecting more from our state's top executive. This appointment undeservingly gives Brown the advantage of campaigning as an incumbent though he has fewer than five years of judicial experience.

 

…

 

“To say we're disappointed in Strickland's appointment is an understatement. We would've preferred to see the governor appoint a placeholder chief justice who could have served without the distraction of a heated campaign.” (Editorial, The Willoughby News-Herald, 4/18/10)

“Upon the death of Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, we urged Gov. Ted Strickland to appoint a ‘caretaker’ replacement to non-politically fill the vacant seat until after voters choose Moyer’s successor in the November election. Strickland instead picked the Democratic candidate Franklin County Probate Court Judge Eric Brown. The governor’s lame excuse was that previous Ohio governors had filled high-court vacancies that way. It was wrong then and it’s wrong now. It’s an insult to Moyer’s quest to take the politics out of selecting judges.” (Editorial, The Lorain Morning Journal, 4/20/10)

“Eric Brown was not the best Democrat to run for Ohio Supreme Court chief justice at the filing deadline date, but he was the best candidate the party could muster at the time.

 

“The most that could be said for Brown was he has a good ballot name.

 

“Ohioans like to elect Browns statewide to represent them in the U.S. Senate, on the Supreme Court, as attorney general and secretary of state.

 

“But it was clear on Feb. 18 that the Democrats were not going to invest a bunch of time and money into winning the chief justice race against Republican Justice Maureen O'Connor, because the party had to focus its resources on keeping the governor's office and the majority in the Ohio House and win one of two other statewide offices — either auditor or secretary of state — to control the gerrymandering process in 2011.

 

“They threw a Brown on the ballot and hoped for the best.

 

…

 

“If Moyer would have died before the deadline for filing to run, it is doubtful that Brown would be the Democratic Party's top choice.

 

…

 

“There are several reasons Strickland was forced to name Brown chief justice.

 

“It was too late to run someone else.” (Dennis J. Willard, Op-Ed, Akron Beacon Journal, 4/17/10)

“Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, addressing the vacancy created by the sudden death of esteemed Chief Justice Thomas Moyer on April 2, made his view clear: "Frankly the judiciary has been too male and too white," he said.

 

“He then appointed a white male, Franklin County Probate Judge Eric Brown, to succeed Moyer, a Republican. Brown, already the Democratic candidate for chief justice this fall, now gets to run as an incumbent.” (Ray Cooklis, Op-Ed, Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/18/10)

“The sudden death of Chief Justice Thomas Moyer this month gave Gov. Ted Strickland a chance to pass on politics as usual and do something classy -- something that might have indicated he sees the Ohio Supreme Court as more than just another political prize.

 

“Instead, Strickland took the predictable route of appointing Franklin County Probate Judge Eric Brown to serve out the last eight months of Moyer's term. Brown was already going to be the Democratic nominee for chief justice in November, recruited for the race by Strickland. Now Democrats will be able to ask voters to retain Chief Justice Brown when he runs against GOP Justice Maureen O'Connor this fall.

 

…

 

“Strickland's decision was politically understandable and utterly predictable. So was his defense that he was just doing what other governors had done. None of that makes it any less disappointing.” (Editorial, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 4/18/10)