Pat DeWine
Republican | Ohio
Candidate Profile*
Proven Originalist
*Additional information appears below for educational purposes; however, only data received prior to the candidate deadline was considered during Panel Evaluation.
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Pat DeWine
Party
Republican
Election Year
2022
Election
General
Race
Supreme Court, term beginning January 2
Incumbent
Yes
Links
EDUCATION
Miami University, Oxford, OH, B.A., B.S., 1990
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, J.D., 1994
WORK & MILITARY
Keating Muething & Klekamp P.L.L., Associate and then Of Counsel, 1996-2008
AFFILIATIONS
Cincinnati Bar Association, Member, Ohio State Bar Association
Member, Catholic Inner-city Schools Education, Advisory Board Member
Kolping Society, Member, United Way
Board Member, Cincinnati Special Improvement District, Board Member
Talbert House, Board Member, Mt. Lookout Civic Club
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Justice, Ohio Supreme Court, 2017-Current
Judge, First District Court of Appeals, 2013-2016
Judge, Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, 2009-2013
Member, Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, 2005-2009
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Councilmember, Cincinnati City Council, 1999-2005
United States Congress, 2005
Race
Previous Races
ENDORSEMENTS*
*These endorsements were received after the deadline and were not considered in the Panel Evaluations and are for additional educational purposes only.
CONSERVATIVE (9)
*National Rifle Association (NRA) PVF
*Cincinnati Right to Life PAC
Buckeye Firearms Association-Ohio
*Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio
*Clermont County Republican Party
LIBERAL (1)
*ACT Ohio (Affiliated Construction Trades)
OTHER (3)
Ohio Chamber of Commerce PAC
Ohio Manufacturers' Association (OMA- PAC)
Ohio Business Round Table - OBRT
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (4)
Brad Wenstrup (2013)
Family First PAC (2007)
Mike DeWine (2010)
Shannon Jones (2008)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (56)
A. Brian McIntosh (2012)
Andrea White (2022)
Bernie Moreno (2022)
Bill Beagle (2016)
Bill Dean (2017)
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (1)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (2016)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (17)
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (2022)
Anita Somani (2016)
Building and Construction Trade Councils (2022)
Construction Employers Association of Cleveland (2016)
Dominic Ozanne (2016)
OTHER INFORMATION
Notable Cases that Justice DeWine has ruled on include:
- Adams et al. v. DeWine (2022): Justice DeWine co-wrote a dissent with Justices Kennedy and Fischer, arguing the majority did not rely on a workable standard in its holding that the Ohio congressional-district plan "unduly" favored a political party and split governmental units (p. 43).
- Stated that the Ohio Constitution should be construed according to its original public meaning (p. 51).
- "We believe that our authority is limited by the text of Article XIX and the constitutional restraints on the judicial power. Because the majority strays well beyond both, we respectfully dissent" (p. 44).
- "No doubt, there are those who will be quite happy about the policy choices that the majority makes today. But no one should lose sight of the fact that what the majority does today is make policy, not apply the law. While none of us question that the majority sincerely believes that what it is crafting constitutes good policy, we have grave concerns about the majority’s untethered-by-law eagerness to wrest from the political branches of our government the authority that rightly belongs to them" (p. 44).
- Gabbard v. Madison Local School District Board of Education (2021): Justice DeWine wrote a dissent in a case over whether a school board resolution could enable teacher to carry firearms. He argued that the majority abandoned the plain meaning of R.C. 109.78(D), and adopted a reading at odds with the way ordinary English speakers would understand the statute (p. 37). Argued that teachers could not be included in the third category of R.C. 109.78(D) because they were not a “position in which such person goes armed while on duty" (p. 38). Argued that the majority erred by interpreting each word of that phrase in isolation and that the phase ought to have been limited instead to refer to security personnel (p. 38-40).
- State ex. rel. Ohio Stands Up! Inc v. DeWine (2021): Justice DeWine did not participate, as the case dealt with an action taken by Governor DeWine
QUESTIONNAIRE
VALUES
I agree with Critical Race Theory (CRT) which asserts that the institutions in the United States are fundamentally racist.
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Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.
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Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
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What types of pro bono work have you done?
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ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
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What education or experience qualifies you to hold the office for which you seek election?
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Why should the voters choose you?
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I voted in these primaries and general elections:
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JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY
Justices should not interpret the federal and state constitutions as living documents, but should use a textualist and originalist approach to interpretation.
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What is the proper use of legislative history in interpreting statutory law?
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Which current or past U.S. Supreme Court justice best reflects your judicial philosophy?
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How should a court address the balance between public health and individual freedoms in the time of a pandemic?
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In light of the case Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include a prohibition on sexual-orientation discrimination, which justice’s opinion most closely aligns with your own opinion?
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What role (if any) does a judge have in maintaining the separation of church and state?
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Religious liberty is at risk in the United States and deserves the highest level of protection in the law.
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When should a judge overturn past court decisions?
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How should a judge determine which rights are protected by the Constitution even though they are not specifically mentioned?
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What legal principles should a court consider when evaluating parents’ objection to their child obtaining medical procedures or drugs designed to affirm the child’s desired gender?
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What principles should guide a court’s analysis of whether your state’s constitution gives terminally ill patients a right to assisted suicide?
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Would you describe your judicial philosophy as originalist, living constitutionalist, or something else?
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