It’s been a quiet December at the high court. January is likely to be busy, as the Court has lots of cases under submission. Oral arguments resume January 17, 2012. Happy New Year to all.
Marianna Bettman
Justice Pfeifer Signs Order of Execution in Death Penalty Case.
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Commentary, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
The Supreme Court of Ohio has now set two execution dates in death penalty cases. In the first of these, State v. Philips, case number 94-2208, the order was signed by Justice Paul Pfeifer as acting Chief Justice, because Maureen O’Connor was once involved as a prosecutor in this case. Justice Pfeifer is the senior…
Attention Brief Writers. New Writing Manual from the Supreme Court of Ohio.
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Ohio Supreme Court Watch, Uncategorized
The Supreme Court of Ohio has just done its first complete overhaul of what began in 1985 as the Manual of Citations ( for those of my generation, think bluebook, unless that makes you think of taking law school exams). Revisions were released in July of 1992 and July of 2002 (to conform the revisions…
Attention Brief Writers. New Writing Manual from the Supreme Court of Ohio.
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Ohio Supreme Court Watch, Uncategorized
The Supreme Court of Ohio has just done its first complete overhaul of what began in 1985 as the Manual of Citations ( for those of my generation, think bluebook, unless that makes you think of taking law school exams). Revisions were released in July of 1992 and July of 2002 (to conform the revisions…
In Sharper Focus: The U.S. Supreme Court has been saying Juveniles Really Are Different
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in In Sharper Focus
The case of In re M.W., 2011-0215, argued on December 6, raised once again the argument that when it comes to crime and punishment, juveniles are different from adults. Here are a trio of recent U.S.Surpeme Court decisions on this point, all cited in M.W.’s brief.
In 2005, in Roper v. Simmons, 543…
Justice Pfeifer Testifies in Favor of Abolishing the Death Penalty in Ohio
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Commentary
On Wednesday December 14, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer testified before the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee in favor of a bill to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life without the possibility of parole. The bill, House Bill 160, is sponsored by Democrats Ted Celeste of Columbus (brother of former governor…
Merit Decision: The Necessity of Expert Testimony in an Informed Consent Claim. White v. Leimbach.
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Merit Decisions, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
On December 8, 2011 the Supreme Court of Ohio issued an opinion laying out when expert testimony is needed in a medical claim based on lack of informed consent. The case is White v. Leimbach, 2011-Ohio-6238.
Dr. Warren Leimbach, a neurosurgeon, successfully operated on Robert White for acute back pain caused by a…
In Sharper Focus: Understanding the Constitutional Challenges to Ohio’s Serious Youthful Offender Statute
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in In Sharper Focus, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
Update: Read an analysis of the merit decision in the J.V. case here.
Ohio’s Serious Youthful Offender statute works like this. The statute allows for a “blended” sentence, which is part juvenile disposition, part adult sentence. First, if warranted, in addition to the juvenile disposition, the juvenile judge imposes a stayed adult sentence on a…
Guest Post on Ohio’s Serious Youthful Offender Law
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Commentary, Guest Posts
Judging from the comments at oral argument in the case of In Re J.V., (read that post here) and from the analysis of the Serious Youthful Offender law in the case of State v. D.H., 120 Ohio St.3d 540, 2009-Ohio-9, this law, which allows for blended (i.e., part juvenile disposition, part a potential adult…
What’s On Their Minds: Pursuant to the Serious Youthful Offender Statute, Is It Constitutional for the Juvenile Court Judge to Invoke the Adult Portion of a Blended Sentence Upon a Juvenile Offender? In re J.V.
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Ohio Supreme Court Watch, What's On Their Minds?
Update: On October 30, 2012 the Court handed down a merit decision in this case. Read the analysis here.
On December 6, the Supreme Court of Ohio heard oral argument in the case of In re J.V., 2011-0107. The case has two distinct issues. The first is whether a trial court, rather than a…