Ohio Supreme Court nominees Pat Fisher and Terry Jamison discuss fairness in court

(WKBN) – First news is ‘Your Local Election Headquarters’.Tonight we bring you Part 2 of the series Introducing Judicial Candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court.

This year is the first non-primary election to designate a judge’s political party on the ballot.

Republican incumbent Judge Pat Fisher is running against Democratic nominee Judge Terry Jamison of the 10th District Court of Appeals.

By law, judges are not permitted to publicly discuss cases that may go to trial, especially controversial topics such as abortion. Instead, they asked how to improve the justice system and ensure fairness in court.

Jamison is from West Virginia. She is her third generation coal miner who moved to Ohio after being laid off. She started her own business, eventually went to law school, and worked in a public defender’s office before becoming her judge.

A native of Cincinnati, Fisher has practiced law for 30 years after graduating from Harvard Law School. He was formerly a Judge of the 1st District Court of Appeals.

Both have ideas on how to make sure courts are fair.

“I’m in favor of the Criminal Sentences Database, which is currently a volunteer project, and there’s no question it needs to continue, especially since there was research on racial equity,” Jamison said.

Criminal Sentence Database tracks criminal sentences, allows comparison by many criteria such as age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, and compares criminal sentences among different judges. .

“I also conducted a civil trial to see if men and women in socioeconomic or minority status were offered lower sentences or offered damages for accidents and injuries. I’m in favor of having a damages database,” Jamison said.

Fischer said making courts more efficient to guarantee the constitutional right to a speedy trial is an issue that concerns him.

“I think Court is too late. If you know what a jurisdiction claim is, it’s to file a lawsuit. Like, say, the United States Supreme Court ruling motion. When I got to court, It took 120 to 125 days to get the verdict, down from 70 to 75 days since the last report,” Fischer said.

Fischer says complaints filed against state attorneys also took too long.

“It took 900 days from the time I called the Bar Association to the time I gave my opinion. I think it will,” Fisher said.