Gavel and Themis statue in the court library
Gavel and Themis statue in the court library.

Law’s Cassandra Burke Robertson explains Ohio state law giving Supreme Court justices the freedom to recuse themselves from a case

State law leaves it up to Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine to recuse himself over a conflict

cleveland.com (subscription required): Cassandra Burke Robertson, the John Deaver Drinko-BakerHostetler Professor of Law and director of the Center for Professional Ethics, said state law allows for parties, if they think a judge handling their case is biased, to file a written request to the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court to replace that judge at the municipal, county, state appellate or state court of claims level—but the process does not apply to Supreme Court justices. Instead, under the Supreme Court’s internal rules, “it is essentially up to the judge to determine whether disqualification is required,” she said.