Cleveland Tea Party Calls for Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil To Step Down

O’Neil’s above Facebook rants go way beyond the allowable activity for a sitting judge under the Ohio Code for Judicial Conduct.

RULE 2.4 External Influences on Judicial Conduct

(A) A judge shall not be swayed by public clamor or fear of criticism.

(B) A judge shall not permit family, social, political, financial, or other interests or relationships to influence the judge’s judicial conduct or judgment.

(C) A judge shall not convey or permit others to convey the impression that any person or organization is in a position to influence the judge.

[1] An independent judiciary requires that judges decide cases according to the law and facts, without regard to whether particular laws or litigants are popular or unpopular with the public, the media, government officials, or the judge’s friends or family. Confidence in the judiciary is eroded if judicial decision making is perceived to be subject to inappropriate outside influences.

RULE 4.1 Political and Campaign Activities of Judges and Judicial Candidates

[1] Though subject to public election, a judge plays a role different from that of a legislator or executive branch official. Rather than making decisions based upon the expressed views or preferences of the electorate, a judge makes decisions based upon the law and the facts of each case. Therefore, in furtherance of this interest, judges and judicial candidates must, to the greatest extent possible, be free and appear to be free from political influence and political pressure. Canon 4 imposes narrowly tailored restrictions upon the political and campaign activities of all judges and judicial candidates.

Participation in Political Activities

[3] Public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judiciary is eroded if judges or judicial candidates are perceived to be subject to political influence. Although judges and judicial candidates may register to vote as members of a political party, they are prohibited by division (A)(1) from assuming leadership roles in political organizations.

[4] Divisions (A)(2) and (A)(3) prohibit judges and judicial candidates from making speeches on behalf of political organizations or publicly endorsing or opposing candidates for public office to prevent them from abusing the prestige of judicial office to advance the interests of others.

In O’Neil’s Facebook rants he talks about his speaking out on the Democrat Party fight for control of Ohio as a “matter of honor.”  

“As a sitting Ohio Supreme Court Justice,” stated Ralph King co-founder of the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots, “in reverence to the honor of serving on Ohio’s highest court & integrity of the judicial process which he is to uphold, as a ‘matter of honor’ - Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neil should very quietly, politely, stand up and resign his seat.”