Anti-CCW Supreme Court Justice will run unopposed
January 03, 2004
Columbus Dispatch
No one challenges liberal Republican justice
Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, a renegade Republican rebuffed by some in his own party but beloved by Democrats, will get a free ride, running unopposed for a third term on the Ohio Supreme Court.
No Democrat filed to challenge Pfeifer by the campaign petition deadline yesterday, giving him an uncontested reelection.
"I don’t want to be giddy about this, but I’m obviously very pleased," Pfeifer said. "It’s a pleasure to be able to just focus on your job."
The former state legislator from Bucyrus often has sided with Democratic justices in narrow decisions.
Dan Trevas, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party, said Pfeifer "has voted in a fashion that is Democratic."
Trevas said Pfeifer’s campaign support likely would have come from some of the Democrats’ faithful contributors. "Having a candidate against (Pfeifer) would hurt the overall pool of resources," he said.
A municipal court judge from Cleveland, meanwhile, is challenging Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, 64, a Republican from Bexley. Democrat C. Ellen Connally, 58, is vying to become the first black woman on the Ohio Supreme Court. She also is the first black woman to run for chief justice. Moyer is seeking a fourth six-year term.
There could be a Democratic primary March 2 for the open seat created by the mandatory retirement of Justice Francis E. Sweeney, a Democrat.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy A. Fuerst, 52, of Cleveland Heights, and Stark County Appeals Court Judge W. Scott Gwin, 52, filed as Democratic candidates.
Lucas County Appeals Court Judge Judith Lanzinger, 57, is the Republican candidate.
Justice Terrence O’Donnell, 57, of Rocky River, who was appointed by Gov. Bob Taft to a vacant Supreme Court seat in May, is running for the final two years of that unexpired term. The seat was formerly held by Justice Deborah L. Cook, who was appointed to the federal appeals court in Cincinnati.
O’Donnell, a Republican, is being challenged by Judge William M. O’Neill, a 56-year-old Democrat on the Warren-based 11th District Court of Appeals.
Commentary:
The tragedy with the lack of an opponent for Justice Pfeifer isn't that a Democrat judge isn't running, but rather that a more conservative judge didn't choose to run.
Justice Paul Pfeifer, writing for the majority in upholding Ohio's CCW ban, scoured the legal precedents and declared that it's fine to arrest people who carry concealed weapons, drag them into court and make them prove they had a good reason, because, "Placing the burden of proof on a defendant is constitutional.'' As columnist Peter Bronson put it, "Now there's a stirring moment in state judicial history - an impassioned defense of the principle of presumed guilt. Arrest them all, sort it out later.
Pfeifer also says it's OK to restrict the fundamental right to bear arms spelled out in the Ohio Constitution, because there are limits on other basic rights, such as free speech, assembly, free press and trial by jury.
Think about it. Imagine limits that said, sure, you have a right to publish a newspaper - as long as you only sell it after midnight. Sure, you can gather anywhere you want as long as you wear wingtips and prom dresses. Sure, you can speak up and say what you want - if you are prepared to go directly to jail and do not pass go."
The state GOP did endorse Pfeifer, 61, although some opposed the move.
OFCC PAC will be exploring candidates' records in contested races. Endorsements concerning these and other primary contests may be forthcoming, depending on the results of the research.
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