Appellate Judge Terri Jamison of the 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals is seeking an Ohio Supreme Court seat in the Nov. 8 election.

Appellate Judge Terri Jamison, 62, the Democrat seeking to unseat one-term Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat Fischer, can be emphatically described as living the American dream. In her early 20s, when most future judicial candidates were deciding which law school to attend, the West Virginia native was working in a coal mine – deep underground as an assistant roof bolter and then material loader.

Several years and several jobs later, she enrolled in Columbus’ Franklin University while working for an insurance agency, graduated with honors, and in 2004, at age 45, received her law degree from Capital University.

After seven years as a public defender and then defense attorney, she was elected a Franklin County Domestic Relations judge in 2012, then last year won election to the 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals. Now here she is, running for a seat on the state’s highest court.

Jamison seems more than up for the job. She is thoughtful, collegial and in command of the issues, with a strong commitment to equal justice, an end to racial disparities and criminal and civil justice reforms.

Fischer, 64, a Republican, took a more traditional path to the Supreme Court – undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard, 27 years as an attorney, president of the Ohio Bar Association, six years on the 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals and now, six years on the state supreme Court.

He is an astute thinker with a keen legal mind who has generally been an asset to the court. We enthusiastically endorsed his election in 2016.

However, he was part of the three-Republican cadre of justices who this year consistently voted to uphold GOP legislative redistricting plans found to be unconstitutional by a 4-3 majority of the court, and he declined to appear before the editorial board to defend his position, so we cannot recommend that voters return him for a second term as justice.

Jamison said it was imperative that justices leave their political beliefs at the door and support the rule of law, including “substantive due process” and voter-enacted constitutional reforms, such as those for redistricting.

Terri Jamison would be an asset to the state’s highest court. Ohio voters should elect her to the Ohio Supreme Court in the Jan. 1 term on Nov. 8. Early voting begins Oct. 12.

On Sept. 20, as part of its endorsement process, the editorial board of The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com held an endorsement meeting for Ohio Supreme Court in the Jan. 1 term. The one-term Republican incumbent, Justice Pat Fischer, chose not to take part in the interview. Participating was Democratic10th Ohio District Court of Appeals Judge Terri Jamison. This will be the first year, per a new Ohio law, that Republican and Democratic designations appear on ballots for appellate and Supreme Court races in Ohio. Listen to audio of the endorsement interview below:

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League of Women Voters vote411.org voters’ guide.

Judge4Yourself Cuyahoga County bar association coalition 2022 judicial ratings.

Judicial Votes Count nonpartisan educational state website on judicial candidates.

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