The Twenty-Sixth Amendment and the Real Rigging of Georgia’s Election

VIKRAM DAVID AMAR

Illinois law dean Vikram David Amar explains why Georgia’s law allowing persons 75 years and older to get absentee ballots for all elections in an election cycle with a single request, while requiring younger voters to request absentee ballots separately for each election, is a clear violation of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment. Dean Amar acknowledges that timing may prevent this age discrimination from being redressed in 2020, but he calls upon legislatures and courts to understand the meaning of this amendment and prevent such invidious disparate treatment of voters in future years.

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COVID Comes to Federal Death Row—It Is Time to Stop the Madness

AUSTIN SARAT

Austin Sarat—Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence & Political Science at Amherst College—explains the enhanced risk of COVID-19 infection in the federal death row in Terre Haute, not only among inmates but among those necessary to carry out executions. Professor Sarat calls upon the Trump administration and other officials to focus on saving, rather than taking, lives inside and outside prison.

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State v. Patrick

Citation: 2020-Ohio-6803

Opinion Date: December 22, 2020

Judge: Maureen O'Connor

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Juvenile Law

The Supreme Court held that Ohio Rev. Code 2953.08(D)(3) does not preclude an appellate court from reviewing a sentence imposed by a trial court for aggravated murder when a defendant raises a constitutional claim regarding that sentence on appeal. A jury found Defendant guilty of aggravated murder and other offenses stemming from a fatal shooting when Defendant was seventeen years old. The trial court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment with parole eligibility after thirty years for the aggravated murder offense. On appeal, Defendant argued that his sentence violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Ohio Rev. Code 2953.08(D)(3) does not preclude an appellate court from reviewing a sentence imposed by a trial court for aggravated murder when a defendant raises a constitutional claim regarding that sentence on appeal; and (2) consistent with this Court's decision in State v. Long, 8 N.E.3d 890 (Ohio 2014), a trial court must separately consider the youth of a juvenile offender as a mitigating factor before imposing a life sentence under Ohio Rev. Code 2929.03 even if that sentence includes eligibility for parole.

In re Adoption of Y.E.F.

Citation: 2020-Ohio-6785

Opinion Date: December 22, 2020

Judge: Donnelly

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Family Law

The Supreme Court held that Ohio Rev. Code 2151.352 is unconstitutionally underinclusive as applied to indigent parents facing the loss of their parental rights in probate court and that indigent parents are entitled to counsel in adoption proceedings in probate court as a matter of equal protection of the law under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Ohio Const. art. I, 2. Petitioners filed petitions in the probate court to adopt Mother's two children. Mother filed a request for appointed counsel, which the probate court denied. The court of appeals affirmed the denial of Mother's request for appointed counsel, concluding that equal protection and due process guarantees are inapplicable to requests for appointed counsel in adoption causes brought by private petitioners. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the disparate treatment between indigent parents faced with losing parental rights in a custody proceeding in juvenile court, who are entitled to appointed counsel, and indigent parents faced with losing parental rights in an adoption proceeding in probate court, who are not entitled to appointed counsel, violates equal protection guarantees.

City of Cincinnati v. Fourth National Realty, LLC

Citation: 2020-Ohio-6802

Opinion Date: December 22, 2020

Judge: Judith L. French

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use

The Supreme Court held that the failure to serve the Ohio Attorney General a declaratory judgment claim alleging an ordinance is unconstitutional at the inception of the action does not divest the trial court of its subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Ohio Rev. Code 2721.12. The City of Cincinnati filed an action for injunctive relief against Fourth National Realty, LLC alleging that Fourth National had installed an outdoor advertising sign without obtaining the necessary permit and variance. Fourth National filed a counterclaim seeking a declaration that the City's outdoor advertising ordnances violated its constitutional right to free speech but did not serve its counterclaim until two years into the litigation. On remand, the City argued that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because Fourth National had not served the attorney general with notice of the pending constitutional claim at the inception of Fourth National's case. The trial court concluded that it had subject matter jurisdiction, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that section 2721.12(A) does not require service on the attorney general at the inception of the action.

Total Quality Logistics, LLC v. JK & R Express, LLC

Citation: 2020-Ohio-6816

Opinion Date: December 22, 2020

Judge: Judith L. French

Areas of Law: Contracts

In this breach of contract action, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals applying the common-law requirements set out in Globe Indemnity Co. v. Schmitt, 53 N.E.2d 790 (Ohio 1944), without considering whether the parties intended to abrogate those requirements, holding that the Globe Indemnity Co. requirements do not apply when the parties express a clear intent to abrogate those common-law requirements in their contract. On appeal, Appellant argued that the common-law requirements set out in Globe Indemnity Co. for determining whether an indemnitee may recover against an indemnitor when the indemnitee has settled a claim without the indemnitor's involvement do not apply when the parties express a clear intent to abrogate those requirements in their contract. The Supreme Court agreed and reversed the court of appeals' judgment, holding (1) the requirements set forth in Globe Indemnity Co. do not apply when the parties express a clear intent to abrogate those common-law requirements in their contract; and (2) the lower courts erred by failing ascertain whether the parties intended to abrogate the common-law requirements for indemnification.

Wildcat Drilling, LLC v. Discovery Oil & Gas, LLC

Citation: 2020-Ohio-6821

Opinion Date: December 22, 2020

Judge: Judith L. French

Areas of Law: Contracts

The Supreme Court held that the common-law requirements set out in Globe Indemnity Co. v. Schmitt, 53 N.E.2d 790 (Ohio 1944), for determining whether and indemnitee may recover against an indemnitor when the indemnitee has settled a claim without the indemnitor's involvement, do not apply when the parties express a clear intent to abrogate those common-law requirements. The court of appeals in this breach of contract action concluded that the Globe Indemnity Co. requirements apply regardless of the terms of the parties' contract. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the court of appeals erred by applying the common-law requirements set out in Globe Indemnity Co. without considering whether the parties abrogated those requirements in their contract. The Court remanded this matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

State v. Taylor

Citation: 2020-Ohio-6786

Opinion Date: December 22, 2020

Judge: Fischer

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Court held that, pursuant to Ohio Rev. Code 2941.51(D), a trial court in a criminal case may assess court-appointed counsel fees against a defendant without making explicit findings on the record to justify the fee assessment and that an order for payment of court-appointed counsel fees cannot be included as a portion of the defendant's sentence for a criminal conviction. On appeal from his conviction and sentence, Defendant argued that the trial court erred in ordering him to pay $130 toward appointed counsel fees. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the trial court could not order Defendant to pay the court-appointed counsel fees without first considering his financial ability to do so. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the trial court has authority to impose court-appointed counsel fees; (2) section 2941.51(D) does not require the trial court to make explicit findings; and (3) court-appointed counsel fees cannot be imposed as part of a defendant's sentence.

State v. Turner

Citation: 2020-Ohio-6773

Opinion Date: December 22, 2020

Judge: Sharon L. Kennedy

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Court held that, based on the plain language of Ohio Rev. Code 4511.33(A)(1), the definitions set forth in Ohio Rev. Code 4511.01 and the statutory scheme as a whole, the single solid white longitudinal line on the right-hand edge of a roadway - otherwise known as the fog line - does not prohibit "driving on" or "touching" the line. A highway patrol trooper stopped Defendant for failing to drive within the marked lanes, in violation of section 4511.33. Defendant was subsequently charged with a violation of section 4511.33 and of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the trooper did not have probable cause or a reasonable and articulable suspicion to initiate the stop. The trial court granted the motion to suppress. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that because Defendant did not cross the fog line and driving on the fog line or touching it is not prohibited under section 4511.33(A)(1), no violation occurred.

Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC v. Ohio Valley Coal Co.

Citation: 2020-Ohio-6787

Opinion Date: December 22, 2020

Judge: DeWine

Areas of Law: Energy, Oil & Gas Law, Real Estate & Property Law

In this dispute between a coal mining company and the owner of a natural gas pipeline over whether the pipeline owner may recover for damage caused to the pipeline as a result of mining the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and reinstated the judgment of the trial court in favor of the mining company, holding that surface damage liability waivers in the relevant property deeds were valid and enforceable. The mining company held its interest in the coal underneath the lands through property deeds that severed the surface estate from the mineral interest. The deeds included provisions waiving liability for damage to the land's surface caused by mining activities. The trial court entered judgment for the mining company. On appeal, the pipeline owner asserted that the surface damage liability waivers were rendered invalid by an administrative agency's regulation requiring mining operators to pay for damage to surface structures from mining activities. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the administrative agency lacked authority to enact a regulation requiring mining operators to pay damages irrespective of common law property rights to the extent those rights have not been limited by federal law; and (2) the surface damage liability waivers at issue remained valid and enforceable.