Ethics complaint says Ohio justice should have recused himself, cites 'basic human nature'
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Patrick DeWine is facing an ethics complaint that claims he created the appearance of impropriety by hearing cases involving the state attorney general’s office, which is run by his father, Mike DeWine.
Last Tuesday’s ethics complaint says that Justice Patrick DeWine has heard at least four high court cases in which his father is a named party. The Columbus Dispatch, the [Toledo] Blade and the Associated Press have stories; the Legal Profession Blog has a summary.
The justice recused himself, however, in a dispute involving autopsy records in which the attorney general’s office was fighting the records request, the AP previously reported.
The ethics complaint notes that Mike DeWine is seeking the Republican nomination for governor.
“Reasonable minds could conclude that there is at least the appearance of impropriety when respondent hears and decides his father’s cases, especially in this sensitive time period when his father is also running for governor,” the ethics complaint says. “To conclude that the father-son relationship has no impact on respondent would be to ignore basic human nature.”
Patrick DeWine says he received advice from two ethics experts, including one for the state supreme court, that said he need not recuse himself unless his father personally appeared before him in a case. “I have followed that advice to the letter,” he said in a statement forwarded to the Blade and the Dispatch.
“The voters of Ohio knew my father was attorney general when they sent me to the Supreme Court,” the statement said. “They did not perceive any conflict in a father and son serving in these two positions, and I think the voters were correct.”
The complaint also says that Justice DeWine has allowed his father to use his image on websites for the attorney general’s office and for his father’s candidacy. Reasonable minds could conclude the images are public endorsements of his candidacy, the complaint says.
The complaint also alleges that Justice DeWine “abused the prestige of his judicial office” to help his son obtain a paid internship in the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office.
“When criminal defendants in Hamilton County take their cases to the Supreme Court, they now do so with the knowledge that their prosecutor has done personal favors for respondent and his family,” the complaint says.
A spokesman for Justice DeWine said there was nothing improper about the hiring of his son.
The ethics complaint says the justice should recuse himself from cases involving the offices of both the attorney general and the Hamilton County prosecutor.
The ethics investigation began after a complaint by University of Toledo law graduate Shamir Lee Coll, who was barred from taking the bar exam last year in a decision that included DeWine. The attorney general’s office had represented the state in the case.
Coll wasn’t allowed to take the bar exam last year because of comments he made about the police on his bar application, the Blade reported last year. He is eligible to apply to take the exam this year.
