Use New Website to Help Make Informed Decisions

On Nov. 3, there will be 56 municipal court judicial races in 29 Ohio counties. What do you know about the judicial candidates running for the bench in your area?

There may be multiple judicial races in a single county and several candidates running for each of those positions. This can be confusing for voters. JudicialVotesCount.org is a newly created website that will help you make an informed decision on Tuesday.

Each judicial candidate has provided personal legal background details so that you can more intelligently choose the next judge in your county. The website also explains the differences among all levels of Ohio courts.

Those of you who live in Ashtabula, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery, Stark, and Summit counties have contested races – more than one person seeks the same judgeship.

Judges can make life-altering decisions that may directly affect you. Please make an informed decision on Nov. 3 and VOTE!

Students to Attend Lecture on Justice Thurgood Marshall at Moyer Judicial Center

More than 200 high school students are expected to hear author Wil Haygood speak about Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American and 96th justice on the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 20. The lecture will be held at the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center as part of the Forum on the Law Lecture Series.

Marshall was considered a giant in the civil rights movement and was the attorney who argued and won the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the U.S. Supreme Court, he became an associate justice and served 24 years. 


Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall

Haygood’s book “Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America” recounts the stop-at-nothing efforts by a group of Southern senators to deny Marshall’s confirmation. The history behind and culture of the 60’s are crucial to his story.

Haygood is a Franklin Heights High School graduate and Columbus native. For three decades, he was a reporter for the Boston Globe and the Washington Post, covering national and international stories. In 2008, he wrote the compelling story of Eugene Allen, the White House butler who served eight presidents over 34 years, the basis for the 2013 award-winning movie The Butler.

The program will the 13th Forum on the Law lecture. Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer established this series to reach out to the public by featuring regional or national speakers who address contemporary or historic legal topics.

Click here for an archived view of Mr. Haygood's presentation.

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Looking at the Federal Court System

It is easy to be confused about the two separate court systems within the United States.

The Online Paralegal Programs website recently released a helpful infographic about the federal court system. Remember that although most cases are handled in state courts, violations of federal law are first tried in one of 94 U.S. District Courts. These cases, can later be appealed to one of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeal and, potentially, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Although we at the Ohio Supreme Court accept about 10 percent of cases appealed to us, the U.S. Supreme Court takes less than 1 percent.

 

Look at the graphic of the Federal court system and compare it with Ohio’s court system. Notice the similarities and differences.