Summit County, Ohio - The Akron Bar Association’s Vision Statement provides that the Akron Bar should be "the voice of the legal community to promote the highest respect for the law and justice system, thereby creating a thriving democracy." The Akron Bar Association therefore speaks out, when necessary, to defend the justice system and the independence of the judiciary, both of which are important parts of safeguarding the rule of law in our democratic society.
With this principle in mind, the Akron Bar Association has issued this statement in order to respond to House Bill 620, which was recently introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives to reduce the appropriations for the Supreme Court of Ohio in an amount equal to the costs incurred to hold a second primary election. This bill is clearly designed to punish the Supreme Court for its recent decisions in the redistricting cases and, if passed, would undermine the independence of the judiciary. Regardless of whether the legislature agrees or disagrees with the merits of individual Supreme Court rulings, the funding of Ohio’s judicial system should not be based upon the merits of any particular judicial decision. This is true, regardless of the nature of the dispute or the nature of the judicial decision. Thus, while the Akron Bar Association takes no position on the merits of the Supreme Court’s redistricting rulings, we think that it is important to speak out on behalf of the judiciary to make clear that the funding of our justice system should not be based upon the merits of individual judicial decisions, and that H.B. 620 is an unprecedented attempt to attack and undermine the independence of the judiciary, which is an important part of the rule of law in our democratic society.
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