Tuesday, October 19, 1999
Countywide election of judges OK
Top court rejects challenge from black Ohio voters
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
At-large elections for Ohio urban judges Monday survived a Supreme Court challenge by blacks who said overwhelming white majorities bury their choices and violate the Voting Rights Act.
Rather than take up that question, the justices refused to hear the black voters' appeal.
Monday's one-sentence decision, with no dissent, allows countywide ballots to continue for Hamilton County Common Pleas and appeals courts.
“We certainly are pleased,” said N. Victor Goodman, defense attorney for the state, the governor and secretary of state. “It's a vindication of the arguments we presented at trial and to the appellate court.”
Cincinnatian William Mallory Sr. called it an arrogant decision that brushed off a violation of his most basic right, the right to vote. “I don't think they understand the gravity of the situation.”
In Hamilton County, no black has sat among the six judges of the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals; one black sits among 19 white Common Pleas judges, and four blacks sit among 10 white Municipal Court judges.
Mr. Mallory and 11 other black Democrats from around the state sought relief from federal courts because Ohio's General Assembly prefers “shameful” at-large elections that suit whatever political party dominates an urban county.
Despite General Assembly rebuffs when he was a state representative, Mr. Mallory said he hoped Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer would make “one more big try” to win electoral change from legislators. “He ought to lead the fight.”
Richard A. Cordray, the attorney whose petition for a rehearing the Supreme Court rejected Monday, said he and his clients were “disappointed” but not defeated.
He predicted they would concentrate on county political parties, urging them to support the appointment and election of black judges.
“I agree,” said Tim Burke, co-chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. “It's up to the political parties and the governor to make a difference.”
Democrats are so committed to diversity that they won't run a white against a black GOP judicial candidate in Hamilton County, Mr. Burke said. “It is simply not right that the vast majority of the people who come before the courts are African-Americans while sitting on the other side of the bench, blacks are virtually unrepresented.”
Buck Niehoff, chairman of the Hamilton County GOP, agreed that racial diversity was important to the community and the judiciary, adding, “The Republican Party plans to continue our strong commitment to casting the very broadest net ... for the very best candidates from all races.'
The case began with a complaint in 1995 by black Democrats from Hamilton, Franklin, Cuyahoga, Lucas, Montgomery, Mahoning, Summit and Stark counties.
They said white suburban majorities overwhelmed urban blacks' choices for 20 municipal, common pleas and appeals courts and violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting African-Americans' votes.
Defense attorney Goodman conceded that race was a factor in judicial elections but he said it was far less important to winners than endorsement and support by a county's dominant political party.
The suit went to trial in 1997 and U.S. District Judge George Smith in Columbus said the challengers “failed to prove that African-Americans were denied an equal opportunity to elect judges of their choice.”
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati upheld that ruling in April, saying that even if there were a violation of the Voting Rights Act, the legislature must craft the solution.
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