MANSFIELD — Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner, a candidate for the court’s chief justice in November’s general election, recently participated in an e-mail interview with Richland Source reporter Grant Pepper.
The two discussed a variety of issues, using some of the questions developed by author and reporter Amanda Ripley as a way of cutting through conflict with questions that “complicate the narrative.”
Ripley’s work is aimed at helping reporters and editors dig beneath people’s positions and get to their motivations, to cover conflict more thoughtfully, to “revive complexity in a time of false simplicity.”
Two current Ohio Supreme Court justices seek to become the next chief justice on the court during November’s general election.
Justice Sharon Kennedy (R) first joined the court in 2012, having been elected to fill an unexpired term. She was elected to her first full term in November 2014. Her term expires in 2026.
Justice Jennifer Brunner (D) was elected to the court in 2020, a term that doesn’t expire until 2027.
One of them will replace Maureen O’Connor, the 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio and the first woman to lead the state judicial branch of government.
Below is that conversation, which has been edited for brevity and clarity. (To read Richland Source’s interview with Brunner’s opponent, Justice Sharon Kennedy, click here).
Pepper: What issues do you think are dividing Ohioans most these days?
Brunner: Unmitigated partisanship seems to be causing the greatest divide. Republicans and Democrats were all born without party labels and those labels don’t need to separate us.
When we prejudge someone based solely on political party affiliation, we are hurting one another, whether we mean to or not. Most people seek to be accepted for who they are with tolerance and respect. Kindness can go a long way to bridge this kind of divide.
I believe Ohioans are weary of extremist positions and are looking for qualified, experienced, dedicated public servants who are focused on public service.
Pepper: Where do you turn for reliable information on these issues? Where do you, as a citizen, get information you can trust?
Brunner: I read a variety of news sources, mostly online reliable news sources. I really enjoy the Financial Times, as coverage is thorough and timely. I’ve learned that issues affecting business and finance are often consumer-related issues. These issues help me spot societal trends, helping me to be a better public servant in what I do.
Pepper: Are there issues that are out there, when you talk to people or when you think about your work on the court, that are being oversimplified? And if so, what are they?
Brunner: Commercials now airing about bail have been condemned by the Ohio State Bar Association as false ads. The state bar’s ad monitoring committee on Oct. 27 acted on a written complaint about a TV ad paid for by theWashington, D.C-based Republican State Leadership Committee.
The bar association committee sent the RSLC a public request for the group to stop airing or revise an ad called “Bail,” now running on Ohio TV stations that calls the Democratic candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court “reckless” and “soft on crime.” The bar committee described the underlying matter as being based on “highly nuanced criminal cases” and declared it false. The bar committee stated:
“Ads like these perpetuate what we believe to be widespread misperceptions about the role of judges in our system of government. Judges are often called upon to make unpopular decisions to uphold the rule of law,” the committee stated. “While we are all free to disagree with a law or find fault in a judge’s legal reasoning, it is misleading and a disservice to voters to grossly oversimplify their opinions just to score political points.”
Pepper: You are the Democratic Party candidate for chief justice. You may have differences in opinion with your opponent. Is there any middle ground here – or, phrased differently, are there areas or positions taken by Republicans that make sense to you?
Brunner: Yes, absolutely, I frequently agree with my Republican colleagues and have concurred in many of their opinions. All of the decisions of the court that I have authored as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court have been bipartisan with at least one Republican justice concurring with my opinion as lead author.
Unfortunately, I cannot point to a single lead opinion I have authored that my opponent has agreed with my reasoning for issuing.
Pepper: When Republican voters go to the polls in November, what would you want them to know about you that they may not know now?
Brunner: My approach is collaborative and respectful toward my colleagues. Yet, I understand that a leader is responsible for the tough decisions that must be made for an organization to operate with fairness. This is the way I managed the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, one of similar size and reach, when I served as Ohio’s 52nd and first female Secretary of State, from 2007 to 2011.
As chief justice, I plan to set goals and to discuss them with the other justices, court staff and judges throughout the state, as the chief administrative officer of the court. This will include increasing public understanding of the court and its functions in government and in our state.
Pepper: You have worked with Justice Sharon Kennedy as colleagues on the Ohio Supreme Court. What do you think she gets right?
Brunner: Justice Kennedy seems to work hard and pay close attention to details of the facts of a case.
Pepper: Are there any things that the two of you see eye-to-eye on? You work with her – there is more to the work than just writing decisions on cases, right?
Brunner: I have observed that we both tend to pay close attention to procedural issues, especially those that affect prisoners in our state’s prison system who seek to gain access to public records.
Pepper: You obviously do a lot of interviews with the media and also spend a lot of time talking to people. What’s the one question thus far in the campaign that nobody has asked you that you really wish they would?
Brunner: What kind of dogs do you have? (I have 3 of them, 2 Griffon mixes and a small terrier–all rescue dogs.)
Pepper: Is there anything about the media’s portrayal of you and its reporting of you that just feels really inaccurate? If there’s one single glaring misperception someone got from reading a story about you … if you had a chance to wave a wand and say, ‘This was wrong and I am going to make sure you understand why.’ What would it be?
Brunner: Reporters sometimes miss certain details, but for the most part I think reporters try hard to get it right.
Pepper: What are the primary, or earliest, life events that helped to shape your views as an adult?
Brunner: As the oldest child I was motivated to help my younger siblings and to protect them. When I see someone needs help or there is a problem, I try to help and stop suffering. This is the essence of public service to which I have dedicated my life.
Ohio Supreme Court Justice — 2021 to present
Tenth District Court of Appeals Judge (Franklin County) — 2014-2020
Ohio Secretary of State — 2007-2011
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge — 2000-2005
Pepper: You have different legal opinions with your opponent on the role of the chief justice on the Ohio Supreme Court. What is the chief justice’s role, in your opinion?
Brunner: The chief justice is the superintendent of the courts of the state under the Ohio Supreme Court’s rules of superintendence, all as described in the Ohio Constitution. It is a constitutional role that requires experienced statewide leadership for the success and effectiveness of Ohio’s courts in serving the public.
Pepper: There has been so much debate, discussion and disagreement this year about redistricting in Ohio after the 2020 U.S. Census. State Senate President Matt Huffman recently said he is thinking about appealing the current legal dispute to the U.S. Supreme Court. Is it the role of the federal courts to get involved in an Ohio election issue?
Brunner: President Huffman did file that appeal. We shall soon learn more as the U.S. Supreme Court considers Moore v. Harper from North Carolina that makes claims similar to Ohio’s appeal, is to be heard on December 7, 2022.
In that appeal, it will be considered whether, because the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures the authority to regulate the time, place, and manner of congressional elections, all substantive state constitutional checks and balances are null and void.
Pepper: Let’s back up for one last question. This general election cycle will be the first time Ohio Supreme Court candidates will have an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ beside their name on the ballot. Would you have preferred the General Assembly not done that?
Brunner: On the one hand, I hope that this new requirement will not diminish the widely held public belief that politics has no place in our courts. On the other hand, I hope the requirement will increase transparency for voters seeking to learn more about the backgrounds of judicial candidates in Ohio.
Richland Source is inviting all statewide candidates on the November ballot to visit our offices at Idea Works in downtown Mansfield to have on-the-record interviews with our local journalists.
Our plan is to interview all of the major candidates for statewide races. Our goal is not to write the political “horse race” stories. We want to dig a little deeper and find a way to perhaps complicate the narrative.
Today’s story is based on a recent interview with Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner, a candidate to become the court’s next chief justice.
