Sole Democrat on Ohio Supreme Court Arrested for DUI

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that the sole remaining Democrat on the state Supreme Court was arrested for driving under the influence Monday afternoon in Wood County.

OSHP Lt. Rick Zwayer told the Dispatch that Justice Resnick, 65, of Toledo, was pulled over near Rt. 6 south of Bowling Green, where she failed field sobriety tests.

According to the Dispatch, the 2:02 p.m. arrest by the State Highway Patrol followed several cellphone calls from motorists reporting an erratic driver on southbound I-75.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Zwayer stated "a strong odor of alcohol was detected" on Justice Alice Robie Resnick, and police believe alcohol was the reason for the erratic driving.

Zwayer was quoted as saying Resnick was taken to the patrol’s Findlay post, where she refused to take a test of her blood-alcohol content. That led to the charge of operating under the influence, a first-degree misdemeanor. The marked-lanes violation is a minor misdemeanor. The paper says her state-owned car, a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee, was impounded.

Resnick's driver’s license was automatically suspended because of her refusal to be tested, but the Dispatch was told by court officials that there is no standard disciplinary action when a judge is charged with driving under the influence. The justice was reportedly on her way to Columbus yesterday where she was scheduled to be on the bench this morning to hear oral arguments.

Media reports say Justice Resnick has not returned calls asking for comment, but the Toledo Blade reported Tuesday that her husband, former 6th District Court of Appeals Judge Melvin L. Resnick, described her as "very upset."

"She isn't in the mood to talk to reporters today,'' he told the Blade. "She had recrimination problems last night. It's just a bad incident.''

Alice Resnick was part of a 5-2 majority that overturned the unanimous rulings of two lower courts by finding that Ohio's then-active 150-year-old ban on bearing arms for self-defense was constitutional.

Resnick was also part of the "gang-of-four" majority for controversial rulings on school-funding that declared Ohio’s current setup unconstitutional, and which declared limits on civil lawsuits unconstitutional.

NBCi4.com (Columbus) is reporting that Resnick has voted in a handful of drunken driving cases with the Supreme Court. In 1996, for example, she wrote the majority opinion in a case that said police do not have to tell people suspected of drunken driving that they have the right to a second, independent blood alcohol test.

In upholding the constitutionality of the (now defunct) concealed carry ban in 2003, Resnick and the majority found that the restriction on the right to bear arms for self-defense was necessary because it served "a compelling government interest'' - that of protecting the "public safety."

Ironic, isn't it, that drunk drivers truly DO present a documented threat to public safety, while concealed handgun licenseholders have been proven to be some of the most law-abiding citizens in our society?

UPDATE: Listen to multiple 911 calls reporting Resnick's dangerous driving