By Marianna Bettman On April 3, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued a blockbuster juvenile law decision, in re: C.P. This 5-2 opinion, written by Justice Paul Pfeifer, strikes down R.C. 2152.86, a registration and notification requirement provision for certain juvenile offenders. This statute is part of Ohio’s Adam Walsh Act. Citizens often complain they [ Read More...]

By Marianna Bettman Contributing Columnist The Supreme Court of Ohio recently decided an interesting case about the permissibility of the police making a stop (which later resulted in an arrest) without a warrant when they believed the driver of a truck was in need of emergency assistance. Before you say, duhhh, of course they should, [ Read More...]

Legally Speaking By: Marianna Bettman The Nov. 10, 2010 Juvenile Court election has remained in jurisprudential limbo, with John Williams last ahead by 23 votes. (He has since become the Juvenile Court’s administrative judge, appointed to the seat due to the unexpected retirement of the incumbent, Judge Karla Grady.) Challenger Tracie Hunter filed a lawsuit [ Read More...]

As I have previously written in this column, Justice Paul Pfeifer has really stepped up his public criticism of Ohio’s death penalty. As strong as his words have been, they’re tame compared to those of U.S. District Judge Greg Frost of Newark, Ohio. Judge Frost sits in Columbus. Back in the day, when we were both state [ Read More...]

In last month’s column, I wrote about Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer’s public stance on abolishing the death penalty in Ohio. He has taken this position one step further. On Dec. 14 he testified before the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee in favor of a bill to abolish the death penalty and replace it [ Read More...]

It all began Jan. 18, 2011 at Justice Paul Pfeifer’s swearing-in ceremony for his current (and now last) term. In his blog, the Ohio Supreme Court Justice calls for an end to the Ohio’s death penalty, which he stated might make everyone in the room uncomfortable. He said that he had concluded, “that it is exceedingly difficult [ Read More...]

Death penalty decisions from the Ohio Supreme Court are long, depressing, and different. Long because the defendants raise every conceivable argument they can, even if the issues they raise have been decided many times. Depressing because of the facts and circumstances of the cases and the horror involved. Different because there is no denying it—a [ Read More...]

By Marianna Brown Bettman Contributing Wrter In the upcoming November election, most of the spotlight has been on two very controversial statewide ballot issues. State issue 2 is a referendum to overturn S.B. 5, the new collective bargaining law that greatly restricts the rights of public employees. State Issue 3 is a constitutional amendment aimed [ Read More...]

By Marianna Bettman Contributing Columnist The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives the accused in criminal cases the right to confront witnesses against them. The U.S. Supreme Court has written a series of cases on this subject. Justice Antonin Scalia has been the leader of the strict confrontation clause jurisprudence that has evolved since. [ Read More...]

By Marianna Bettman Contributing Columnist The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that in a criminal trial the accused has the right to the assistance of a lawyer. And we all know from listening to the Miranda warnings on TV cop shows that if the accused can’t afford a lawyer, one will be appointed [ Read More...]