Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court wants the Republican-controlled General Assembly to enact legislation that would require individuals and organizations to publicly disclose significant financial contributions they make to "issue advocacy" campaigns. Currently, such contributions are protected under the free speech clause of the Constitution.

We applaud the chief justice for taking this initiative to restore public confidence in the state's judicial system. However, in doing so we are reminded of his meek reaction two years ago to the multi-million dollar television advertising campaign waged against Justice Alice Robie Resnick, a Democrat, by the U.S. and Ohio chambers of commerce.

As we noted shortly after the November 2000 general election — Resnick won despite the vicious attacks — Moyer's failure to speak out forcefully against such campaign tactics led many Ohioans to conclude that he, as a Republican, had put politics before principle.

Indeed, Moyer all but endorsed Resnick's Republican challenger, Terrence O'Donnell, an appeals court judge, at a gathering of Republicans. After his comments were reported, the chief justice said he would not have expressed his opinion in such a public manner had he known that the press was present. Only after the election, did Moyer say: "The ads — produced and sponsored by groups independent of and not controlled by the judicial campaign committees — miscast and misrepresented the position of the candidates."

Compelling public interest

It is noteworthy that he is now advocating major reform. In a speech last week to the Ohio State Bar Association, the chief justice said, "There is compelling public interest in narrowly tailored disclosure to assure that when major campaign efforts are mounted with large sums of money, the public is informed regarding the identity of contributors."

We suspect that the Republican leadership in the General Assembly will push through the legislation — if only to ensure that the GOP candidates for the two Supreme Court seats up for election this year don't become targets of the kind of anonymous, dirty campaign that was waged against Resnick.

Given that the Republican-controlled Supreme Court has yet to offer a solution to Ohio's unconstitutional system of funding public primary and secondary education, it is not a stretch to imagine some group, such as the Ohio Education Association, pumping millions of dollars into television ads aimed at "educating" the voters. The ads would no doubt focus on the failure of the Republican- dominated state government to ensure that all students have a thorough and efficient education, as required by the Ohio Constitution.

Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court wants the Republican-controlled General Assembly to enact legislation that would require individuals and organizations to publicly disclose significant financial contributions they make to "issue advocacy" campaigns. Currently, such contributions are protected under the free speech clause of the Constitution.

We applaud the chief justice for taking this initiative to restore public confidence in the state's judicial system. However, in doing so we are reminded of his meek reaction two years ago to the multi-million dollar television advertising campaign waged against Justice Alice Robie Resnick, a Democrat, by the U.S. and Ohio chambers of commerce.

As we noted shortly after the November 2000 general election — Resnick won despite the vicious attacks — Moyer's failure to speak out forcefully against such campaign tactics led many Ohioans to conclude that he, as a Republican, had put politics before principle.

Indeed, Moyer all but endorsed Resnick's Republican challenger, Terrence O'Donnell, an appeals court judge, at a gathering of Republicans. After his comments were reported, the chief justice said he would not have expressed his opinion in such a public manner had he known that the press was present. Only after the election, did Moyer say: "The ads — produced and sponsored by groups independent of and not controlled by the judicial campaign committees — miscast and misrepresented the position of the candidates."

Compelling public interest

It is noteworthy that he is now advocating major reform. In a speech last week to the Ohio State Bar Association, the chief justice said, "There is compelling public interest in narrowly tailored disclosure to assure that when major campaign efforts are mounted with large sums of money, the public is informed regarding the identity of contributors."

We suspect that the Republican leadership in the General Assembly will push through the legislation — if only to ensure that the GOP candidates for the two Supreme Court seats up for election this year don't become targets of the kind of anonymous, dirty campaign that was waged against Resnick.

Given that the Republican-controlled Supreme Court has yet to offer a solution to Ohio's unconstitutional system of funding public primary and secondary education, it is not a stretch to imagine some group, such as the Ohio Education Association, pumping millions of dollars into television ads aimed at "educating" the voters. The ads would no doubt focus on the failure of the Republican- dominated state government to ensure that all students have a thorough and efficient education, as required by the Ohio Constitution.