In my July 13 post I discussed the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Turner v. Rogers , in which the high court discussed the procedural safeguards necessary to meet due process in a civil contempt hearing in which a non-paying parent could be sent to jail. While a court-appointed lawyer was not required in the
Ohio Supreme Court Watch
Guest Post on Battered-Woman Syndrome
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Guest Posts, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
On June 14 I posted my column on the Ohio Supreme Court decision in State v. Goff, in which the Court was faced with the issue of whether a woman who had murdered her husband and raised the battered-woman syndrome as a defense could be compelled to submit to a psychiatric examination by the…
Is it time to revisit the clarity/jeopardy analysis for wrongful discharge torts?
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Ohio Supreme Court Watch
Let’s have some conversation about the Ohio Supreme Court decision in Sutton v. Tomco Machining, Inc., Slip Opinion No. 2011-Ohio-2723.http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2011/2011-ohio-2723.pdf).
The Court decided this case June 9.
DeWayne Sutton was fired within an hour of telling the Tomco company president of an on-the-job injury. The president gave Sutton no reason for firing…
Battered-Woman Syndrome
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Commentary, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
In 1990, in a murder case in which a woman shot her husband while he slept, the Ohio Supreme Court first recognized the battered-woman syndrome as a defense in a criminal case. In that case, State v. Koss, Brenda Koss and a number of other…
More on the Juvenile Court Election
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Commentary, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
In last month’s column I discussed the still-undecided Hamilton County juvenile court election. In this column, I continue to examine this race, but this time, from the perspective of the relationship of the two sets of courts hearing the case, and to look at the next steps.
One of the curiosities of our judicial system…
The Hamilton County Juvenile Court Election
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Commentary, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
On election night, Nov. 2, 2010, in the race for Hamilton County Juvenile Court Republican John Williams was ahead by 2,847 votes— 10,500 provisional ballots were not included in that count. A provisional ballot is one cast where there are questions about a voter’s eligibility. For example, voters who don’t have the right form of…
Searching A Cell Phone
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Commentary, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
As I have written many times in this column, the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fourth Amendment also implicates privacy concerns. A person has an interest that justifies Fourth Amendment protection when that person has a legitimate, reasonable expectation of privacy in the property that is…
Searching A Cell Phone
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Commentary, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
As I have written many times in this column, the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fourth Amendment also implicates privacy concerns. A person has an interest that justifies Fourth Amendment protection when that person has a legitimate, reasonable expectation of privacy in the property that is…
Judicial Empathy
By Marianna Bettman on
There has been much chatter in the news lately about empathy in judicial decision making. To me, a recent decision from the Ohio Supreme Court in a nursing home context provides a good example of both empathy and the lack of it.
Resolving disputes through the procedure known as arbitration has become increasingly popular in…
It’s All in the Eye of the Beholder
By Marianna Bettman on
Posted in Commentary, Ohio Supreme Court Watch
Barberton v. Jenney, 2010-Ohio-2420
While the Ohio Supreme Court usually decides cases of great significance (the Court’s own criteria for selecting cases other than constitutional cases is that they must be of great general or public interest), sometimes it goes for the not-quite-so- significant. And the flap on those little ones can be loud and…