CNO Review November 2013 Edition
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Commission Releases Dos and Don'ts Guide 10th District: No Invasion of Privacy with for Working with Opposing Counsel (page 5) Inmate Medical Records Release (page 3) November 2013 In honor of Veterans Day, the CNO Review spoke with three representative members of the U.S. Armed Forces who also happen to be lawyers and judges. (Story, page 8). 2 • november 2013 • cno review About court news ohio Court News Ohio is a service of the Office of Public Information of the Supreme Court of Ohio and Ohio Government Telecommunications. the November Issue Court News Ohio includes a website Inside (courtnewsohio.gov), a monthly print publication (CNO Review), a television program (CNO TV), 3 cases a Facebook page (facebook.com/ Doctor Acting Within Scope of State courtnewsohio) and a Twitter feed Employment is Immune from Liability (@courtnewsohio). Content is produced and edited 4 Happening Now by the Public Information staff Portrait of First African American with video production assistance Ohio Supreme Court Justice Dedicated from the staff of Ohio Government Telecommunications. The views expressed in CNO content do not necessarily reflect those of 8 cover Story: veterans Day the justices of the Supreme Court Bench, Bar & the Battlefield: Members of Ohio, and the justices do not of the Armed Forces who also Happen exercise direct editorial control over to Be Judges and Attorneys the content. Submissions can be e-mailed to 12 Legislative Digest [email protected] or sent through A compilation of bills and resolutions the U.S. mail to: introduced by the Ohio General Assembly that are of interest to the Court News Ohio judicial community 65 S. Front Street 10th Floor Columbus, Ohio 43215 13 rule Amendment Summary Improvements Proposed A free monthly subscription to the to Ohio Court Interpreter Services CNO Review can be requested by e-mail or U.S. mail, or by calling 614.387.9250. 14 The Agenda Judicial Candidates Seminar: December 4 facebook.com/courtnewsohio @courtnewsohio 16 on the bench Gov. Kasich Appoints Three Judges to Fill Vacancies cno review • november 2013 • 3 Visit courtnewsohio.gov for the most current decisions from the Ohio Supreme Court, Court of Claims, and cases Court of Appeals. Supreme Court of Ohio O’Malley served under a prior interim Hazard in Park Does Not Affect City’s suspension imposed following his Recreational Use Immunity conviction on related matters. The Supreme Court Rules in Three On October 16, the court ruled that court determined, though, that the Expedited Election Cases under state law, a city is immune from appropriate sanction shouldn’t include In three separate expedited elections liability for injuries resulting from a credit for the earlier time served. cases, the court ordered one candidate sledding accident on a pile of topsoil, on the ballot, declined to omit the name Disciplinary counsel v. o’malley which was being stored in a city park of another candidate, and added to Slip opinion no. 2013-ohio-4566 and contained debris. The court held language in a ballot issue. On October that the city owes no duty to recreational 18, the court ordered the Summit users to ensure that a park is safe for County Board of Elections to include Doctor Acting Within Scope of State entry or use. The 5-2 decision affirms the Darrita Davis on the November 5 Employment is Immune from Liability judgment of the Fourth District Court of ballot as an independent candidate for Appeals. On October 17, the court ruled that Akron City Council. In separate cases a doctor who is a faculty member of a on October 10, the court declined to Pauley v. circleville state medical school and employed by Slip opinion no. 2013-ohio-4541 order the Mahoning County Board of the school’s nonprofit medical practice Elections to omit Demaine Kitchen from plan corporation is statutorily immune the ballot for the office of Youngstown from personal liability for medical mayor, and ordered the Hamilton negligence if acting within the scope Court of Appeals County Board of Elections to produce of his or her state employment while amended ballot language, including treating a patient, regardless of whether Tenth District: No Invasion of Privacy omitted sections of a proposed charter the doctor is teaching at the time. The with Inmate Medical Records Release amendment to reform the city employee 5-2 decision upholds a Tenth District pension program. Though part of their case will go back Court of Appeals ruling and is based on to the Ohio Court of Claims, a group State ex rel. Davis v. Summit county board of the Supreme Court’s 2006 holding in of Mansfield Correctional Institution elections, Slip opinion no. 2013-ohio-4616 Theobald v. Univ. of Cincinnati. inmates who sued the state for invasion State ex rel. monroe v. mahoning county board of privacy are not entitled to any money. of elections, Slip opinion no. 2013-ohio-4490 ries v. ohio State Univ. med. ctr. Ten men, six who are HIV-positive Slip opinion no. 2013-ohio-4545 State ex rel. cincinnati for Pension reform and four with other chronic ailments v. Hamilton county board of elections, Slip requiring ongoing care, filed separate opinion no. 2013-ohio-4489 lawsuits against the Ohio Department Trial Courts Have Authority to of Rehabilitation and Correction in the Expunge and Seal Record of a Court of Claims. Each claimed a fellow Westlake Attorney Connected Dissolved Protection Order inmate got their medical records out of with Cuyahoga County Corruption On October 16, the court ruled that a the trash and passed the information Scandal Indefinitely Suspended trial court has the inherent authority to to other inmates. In its review of the Court of Claims’ August 2012 decision, On October 17, the court indefinitely grant an application to expunge and seal the Tenth District Court of Appeals on suspended Westlake attorney Joseph a record of a dissolved civil protection October 7 upheld that the release of the P. O’Malley from the practice of law order in an adult proceeding when medical information did not meet the for concealing a felony (misprision), unusual and exceptional circumstances standard to receive monetary damages improperly influencing a judge, and exist and when the interests of the party for breach of patient confidentiality that making a materially false statement to seeking expungement outweigh the was created by the 1999 Ohio Supreme agents conducting a federal investigation legitimate need of the government to Court case Biddle v. Warren General into corruption in Cuyahoga County. In maintain the records. The 4-3 decision Hospital, where patient records were its 6-1 decision, the court adopted the reverses a Twelfth District Court of intentionally disclosed. findings of the Board of Commissioners Appeals decision and returns the case to the trial court for reconsideration. on Grievances & Discipline. However, Scott v. ohio Dept. of rehab. & corr. the board recommended an indefinite Schussheim v. Schussheim 2013-ohio-4383 suspension with credit for the time Slip opinion no. 2013-ohio-4529 4 • november 2013 • cno review O.P.E.N. Court Helps Youth with Exceptional Needs Learn about Court Proceedings Happening A teen with exceptional needs is the subject of a video series introduced to Ohio juvenile court judges and News and notes from courthouses organizations that help youth with across the Buckeye State. developmental disabilities. O.P.E.N. Court, Orienting Young Now People with Exceptional Needs about Court, is designed to explain to teens and young children with needs such as autism about juvenile court through a series of three short videos that are available for public viewing. The videos are centered on Henry, a teen who is stopped by police after he stole from an electronics store. The first video educates young people and their parents about the juvenile court system and what to do when one gets in trouble with the law. The second video shares the basics of a delinquency matter, from summons or arrest to disposition. It explains who is in the courtroom and what might happen during court proceedings. The third video seeks to instill confidence and calm by showing how Henry should act in the courtroom. The Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellows Class of 2011 created the videos as a resource for juveniles involved in the justice system for years to come. Duncan Portrait Dedication watch the videos on the ohio State bar A portrait of the late Ohio Supreme Court Justice Robert M. Foundation website: www.osbf.net/opencourt. Duncan was dedicated on October 10. uring an official session of court, Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor Cross-Examination of Former remarked on Justice Duncan’s many firsts, including being the first Client on Prior Conviction DAfrican American to serve on the court. Permissible Duncan was the 124th justice and served on the court from 1969 until 1971. His daughter Tracey Duncan Turner and other members of the A lawyer may cross-examine a Duncan family presented the life-like portrait by Toledo artist Leslie Adams. former client in a subsequent, unrelated “I think he would be overwhelmed with gratitude, and I think he would case as long as the lawyer does not violate feel very, very humbled and very, very honored to have this portrait installed his or her continuing duties to the in this court,” Duncan Turner commented after the ceremony. former client, according to an advisory Speakers at the ceremony reflected on Justice Duncan’s legacy, including opinion issued by the Ohio Supreme his 1977 decision while on the U.S. District Court in which he ordered Court Board of Commissioners on Columbus City Schools desegregated. Grievances & Discipline. “His legacy includes the many minds and hearts he touched – people who Opinion 2013-4 concerns whether continue to strive for his high standards, and help others as Bob Duncan a public defender who represented a helped them,” said attorney Alex Shumate, who served with Justice Duncan former client in a criminal case that on The Ohio State University Board of Trustees.