October 30, 2020
Ohio Democratic Party
c/o David Pepper
340 East Fulton Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Via email: dapepper@ohiodems.org
Dear Mr. Pepper:
The Ohio State Bar Association Judicial Election Advertising Monitoring Committee met today
to consider a complaint about a television ad paid for and distributed by the Ohio Democratic
Party. As is the custom of our committee, we are notifying you of the committee’s finding. We
will also notify Justice Judith French and Justice Sharon Kennedy, the subjects of the ad in
question, and the other two Supreme Court candidates. We will also release this letter to the Ohio
news media.
As you know, our committee considers matters pertaining to judicial advertising of which it
becomes aware by written communication from any source, based upon the following standard:
Campaign advertising that impugns the integrity of the judicial system, the integrity of a
candidate for the Supreme Court or erodes public trust and confidence in the
independence and impartiality of the judiciary by verbally or visually attempting to lead
voters to believe that a candidate will decide issues or cases in a predetermined manner.
Findings
The ad you authorized implies that contributions from “special interests” influence how Justice
Judith French and Justice Sharon Kennedy have and may rule in cases before them. The
committee unanimously determined that this is in violation of committee standards. The ad
impugns the integrity of the Supreme Court and these candidates by attempting to convince or
have voters believe that the candidates will decide cases in a predetermined manner or as a result
of contributions from those supporting or opposing their candidacies.
Importance of the Independence and Impartiality of the Judiciary
Campaign rhetoric like this serves to erode public trust and confidence in our system. It
perpetuates what we believe to be widespread misperceptions about the role of judges in our
system of government. Judges must rule in accordance with the law, regardless of their own
personal views or who donates to their campaigns. It is wrong and a disservice to the voters of
Ohio to imply that justice is for sale in Ohio.

 Further Concerns
While it was not a complaint before our committee, we also found troubling your advertisements
against Justices French and Kennedy concerning the Supreme Court’s decision in the Simpkins v.
Grace Brethren Church of Delaware case, where the court interpreted the statutory damages
cap. Whether one supports these caps or not is an issue to be taken up with the legislative and
executive branch officials and is out of place in a judicial election. More troubling is that you
tried to tie a judicial decision to favoring sex offenders – the exact issue you complained about
concerning a recent Republican ad.
Call to Action
We call on the Ohio Democratic Party to discontinue the ad in question. While we support your
ability under the First Amendment to vigorously make the case for the candidates you support
for our state’s highest court, now and in the future, we encourage you to do so without using
rhetoric that threatens judicial independence or further damages public trust and confidence in
our judicial system.
Further, at the outset of this campaign season, we called on the four candidates for Supreme
Court to participate with our committee in upholding the high standards contained within Canon
4 of the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct and to conduct their campaigns in a manner worthy of
their office and our justice system. We also called upon each of them to disavow advertising by
others that falls short of these standards. With just a few days to go before Election Day, we
renew that call.
Sincerely,

Paul Hervey, Esq.
Chair, Ohio State Bar Association
Judicial Election Campaign Advertising Committee
Cc: Justice Judith French
Justice Sharon Kennedy
Judge Jennifer Brunner
Judge John O’Donnell
Jane Timken, Chair, Ohio Republican Party
Rob Secaur, Executive Director, Ohio Republican Party
Ohio News Media