American media often looks away from the ugliest of our politics. Or struggles to cast in appropriate terms those moments that undermine the very legitimacy of our governance. And that ends up normalizing moments that ought to be treated with far more alarm.
But that tendency goes beyond just the media.
Our pride and faith in American democracy are so strong, there’s a tendency to not to see those dark moments as plainly as we must. It’s why I often use hypotheticals involving other countries, because we see dysfunction and erosion of democratic norms and the rule of law far more clearly when they occur elsewhere than in our own backyard.
One such moment is happening now.
Every day for weeks, through tomorrow, Ohio voters have been casting votes for elections that are in open violation of the state’s Constitution.
Which elections, you ask?
Oh, just every statehouse seat in Ohio.
Oh, and every seat for the US House as well.
That’s right…the elections for the 15 seats that could alter the US House majority next year or down the road are taking place in districts that are illegal. That violate the very document that grant those officials the power to govern over the rest of us.
My statement as to their illegality is not an opinion. It is their actual legal status, per the court with sole and exclusive jurisdiction over the question—the Ohio Supreme Court.
How did this happen?
It’s a long and ugly tale, but I’ve got some good news…one very important media source decided to focus like a laser on how this rolling Constitutional crisis came to be.
This American Life spent weeks in Ohio, talking to many of us about the sad and lawless spectacle that’s played out over the past year— how we got here, and what it means. I was honored to play a small role in the production.
It’s an hour that will infuriate you at times and make you laugh at others, but it’s definitely an hour of first-rate journalism you should listen to. Because more than anything, it underscores just how intent those in power in Ohio are to not letting go of their grasp, even if that includes breaking the law, violating court orders repeatedly, and putting forward (as you will hear for yourself) the most bad-faith and feeble arguments imaginable to justify their lawless actions.
You can listen to the episode here: This American Life
As you listen, though, keep in mind two other layers of lawlessness that Ira Glass didn’t have time to cover.
First, know that in order to keep their illegal maps intact in the future, the same GOP leaders that drew those maps also changed the rules of how Ohioans elect Supreme Court justices in the first place (by adding those candidates’ party labels to the ballot). Their goal was to greatly help their candidates win (they had lost three of the past four elections), so as to create a Court as nakedly partisan as they are, all so that a “new” Court will, after this November, deem legal the maps that the current independent court found to be unconstitutional seven different times. This change is one reason why they’ve been willing to break the law all year—they hope to get to a new, friendly Court that will retroactively uphold their lawless actions.
Now imagine if we saw such a direct attack on an independent court in another country (defying its highest court’s orders while changing its makeup so it was no longer independent)—we’d no doubt recognize that as an alarming attack on the rule of law itself. Well, it’s just as lawless right here in Ohio, and we must see it the same way.
Second, this is also the moment where the refusal of Justice Pat DeWine to recuse himself from cases involving his own father’s maps is so significant—if they DO win their Court races, Pat DeWine becomes THE swing justice in upholding those maps after November.
An egregious conflict of interest shaping the democracy of an entire state is no less than stomach-churning.
This is why I’ve so strongly advocated for folks to support and vote for Judges Marilyn Zayas and Teri Jamison and Justice Jennifer Brunner. Their victories would stymie the plan which Ohio’s GOP set out to execute well over a year ago.
And for friends and readers from beyond Ohio, this also is relevant. These gerrymandered states are always learning from one another. Sad to say, if they can get away with this here, they can and will do it elsewhere.
This also is a preview of how the rogue independent state legislature “theory” would work if it were somehow given credence by the US Supreme Court: essentially, a legislature granted the power to ignore its own state Supreme Court.
Anyway, take a listen to the podcast, and let’s get those three Justices elected to save the rule of law in Ohio!
Thanks Mr. Pepper:
I set up Dominion ICX Voting Machines in Paris Ohio today on the Columbiana/Stark County line.
Judge Brunner and her husband have a farm nearby in Columbiana county. Mr Brunner told me that when his great grandparents came to America from Switzerland they settled in Paris Ohio in Stark County.
Let’s keep our collective fingers crossed all week.
Andrew John DiLiddo Jr
Stark County Ohio