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Ohio Supreme Court Justice Arrested for DUI

ATG: The following story was reported on the radio, when an audio tape of this arrest was played. The officers who made the stop were asked by the judge if they were going to take her to jail - they said no, they were trying to 'help' her. Her conversation with them showed she was having difficulty with her speech.[ She also stated that highway patrolmen should be drivers for justices.] Additional reports stated her blood alcohol level was .216 and a similar DUI event also occurred 12 years ago. ATG does not know the procedure for the appointment of Supreme Court Judges in Ohio, but surely there must be one for removing one from the bench.

2-2-2005

The Times-Reporter

COLUMBUS - A state Supreme Court justice was pulled over and charged with driving under the influence after several motorist called to report an erratic driver on an interstate.

"A strong odor of alcohol was detected" on Justice Alice Robie Resnick, and police believe alcohol was the reason for the erratic driving, Lt. Rick Zwayer, a State Highway Patrol spokesperson, said Tuesday..

Resnick, 65, of Toledo was arrested Monday afternoon on I-75 near Bowling Green in northwest Ohio, Zwayer said.

She failed field sobriety tests and refused to take a blood-alcohol content test, Zwayer said. She also was charged with driving outside marked lines.

Resnick's driver's license was suspended for a year for refusing the breath test, although a judge can revise the suspension to a shorter period or up to three years.

A message seeking comment was left for Resnick, who did not attend court hearings Tuesday on a death penalty case and a medical malpractice case. Resnick, a justice since 1989, is the court's only Democrat.

Court officials said there is no automatic disciplinary action when a judge is charged with driving under the influence.

Resnick, who previously served as an assistant county prosecutor, a municipal judge and a state appeals court judge, has voted in a handful of drunken driving cases with the Supreme Court.

In 1996, for example, she wrote the majority opinion in a case that said police do not have to tell people suspected of drunken driving that they have the right to a second, independent blood alcohol test.

Her arrest came just days after the conclusion of a long-running court battle over an unsuccessful attempt by business groups to unseat her in 2000. On Friday, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce was forced to disclose who contributed to the advertising campaign.

Faced with $25,000 in daily fines, the Chamber complied with a court order by providing a list of 383 donors who gave $4.2 million to a Chamber organization that raised money to defeat Resnick.

Business groups dislike Resnick because of votes she cast that went against the insurance industry and companies trying to limit personal injury lawsuits.

The campaign included a television ad showing a female justice changing a vote after bags of money are dumped on her desk.

Since Republicans regained control of the court in 2003, justices have made a handful of rulings that businesses say are more favorable to their interests.