Opinion

State ex rel. Landis v. Morrow County Board of Elections

  • 88 Ohio St. 3d 1223
  • 723 N.E.2d 1108
Court
Ohio Supreme Court
Filed
Feb 4, 2000
Status
Published
Author
Douglas
On the bench
Allow, Cook, Douglas, Intervene, Moyer, Party, Pfeifer, Resnick, Stratton, Sweeney
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 66.2%

The opinion

Douglas, J.,

dissenting. I respectfully dissent. R.C. 2721.12 does not provide for the Attorney General to be made a party to a cause of action challenging the constitutionality of a statute. Rather, the section provides that the Attorney General shall be served and shall be heard (presumably if she chooses to be heard), and, accordingly, the motion by the Attorney General to intervene is not in order and should be found to be not well taken. In fact, in the case now before us, the relator complied with the statute and served the Attorney General with a copy of the complaint, and now the Attorney General, as a matter of right, shall be heard without resorting to further motion or pleading.

The statute, R.C. 2721.12, makes clear who shall be joined as a “party.” If we expand the universe of “parties” to include the Attorney General, then if she chooses not to answer, participate, or be heard, would we grant a default judgment against the nonresponding party^ — -Attorney General? Just to ask the question answers it.

I would deny the motion and permit the proceedings to be carried out as the statute contemplates.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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