UPDATE: Yesterday, I wrote about the blatant conflict of interest at the Ohio Supreme Court. It went viral.
Well, today that conflict played out.
And one simple photo captures it all.
It’s this one:
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Now what is so egregious about this photo?
Let’s take a close look.
The woman standing before the Court, arguing this case—Ohio v. Glover—is a fine lawyer by the name of Paula Adams.
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And among the seven Justices looking down at her from the bench, listening to the argument, is this one.
His name is Joseph Deters.
Adams and Deters.
Remember those two names…
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Two years ago, the names Adams and Deters also appeared together.
Here’s the document where it happened…twice.
It’s in a case where they both were listed as and serving as counsel.
As prosecutors.
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What case was it? Funny you should ask.
Here’s that info, on the cover page of the document they signed:
Ohio v Glover!
The SAME CASE that Adams was arguing today.
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But today, Deters is no longer co-counsel on the case.
He’s a Justice who will be ruling on the case.
Yes, HIS own case.
And he could end up being the swing vote on the case.
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And if this seems totally inappropriate, it’s because it is.
The Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct is very clear that a judge should not sit on a case in which he has been involved as a lawyer.
Instead, that judge is required to disqualify himself from that case.
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Only a few years ago, the US Supreme Court actually found it to be a violation of Constitutional due process for a judge to rule on a criminal case where he was prosecutor.
But today, defying such clear rules, Justice Deters sat on the bench, watching his prior co-counsel make the same argument they made together (and lost) two years ago at the appellate level.
Although he hid it in this photo, I bet he really liked her arguments.
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And he got to watch counsel for the defendant, who had triumphed over Deters’ argument two years ago, make the case to him.
That must have been fun: sitting as a judge watching your former opponent now being forced to win you over in the same case
I mean, how great is that!
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At one point in today’s argument, a question arose as to the actions by the prosecutor’s office around an original plea offer to the defendant in the case.
The Justices were asking about a deal that had been offered, and who’s idea that offer was.
People weren’t sure.
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Ironically, their colleague Deters—sitting right up there with them—could very well have had personal knowledge of the question that they were all asking about, since he was the prosecutor at the time that deal was offered.
More knowledge than anyone, perhaps..
Heck, someone should have asked him what he remembered about the deal.
But of course, that would have underscored just how bad this all was.
So he just sat their quietly, listening to his former co-counsel making the arguments they had made together only two years ago.
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For all the details on this, you can read this thread:
But in the meantime, when you keep seeing stories about how Ohio has become the most corrupt state in the country, is incapable of self-policing, and has lost its rule of law, now you’ll understand why.
And why a single photo sums it up.
END
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As if the recent obsession with “Alligator Alcatraz”—and the images and memes popping up all over social media in celebration of it—isn’t grotesque enough as it is.
A 🧵
Just look at the images our own government is putting out:
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But this isn’t the first time in American history that images and themes of alligators have been conjured up by elements of our political culture.
And it’s this history that instructs us as to the danger of what’s playing out.
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As Jim Crow replaced Reconstruction late in the 19th century, images, postcards and stories depicted Black Americans, and children in particular, as bait for alligators.
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As much as I loathe all the damage Musk has inflicted on our government and our country, Trump’s latest response in their battle is as dark as it gets.
Let me tell you why:
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When I worked in Russia, and as it was growing in corruption in front of our eyes, one of the most clearcut tell-tales of its slide into lawless authoritarianism was that as most people began to behave corruptly—
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what determined if you were prosecuted or investigated for that corruption was simply whether you were in power or in good standing with those power.
Political power was essentially about which corrupt entity wielded the tools needed to punish others.
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“David Pepper has the experience and the skills to help us make a better American future. Read, learn — and act."
- @TimothyDSnyder
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“In Saving Democracy, David Pepper explains the tactics of authoritarians in America and offers strategies to fight back. For anyone who wants to know what to do and how to make a difference, this book provides a practical and badly needed road map.”
- @anneapplebaum
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Friends-
In recent months, I’ve been working hard to update my most recent book (from 2023): “Saving Democracy: A User’s Manual.”
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If Project 2025 had had a chapter outlining the role the federal judiciary could play in putting all its dark promises into place—and allowing authoritarianism to advance quickly and broadly—here are what the key elements would be:
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1) create immunity for federal officials engaging in official acts
2) make it as difficult as possible for courts and those aggrieved by illegal acts to stop them—even after they have been found to be illegal or when they are blatantly illegal
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3) use rulings to create a culture where federal district court orders can be regularly ignored with incredibly slow or no repercussions whatsoever
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A huge ruling in Ohio yesterday: universal vouchers struck down as unconstitutional
A 🧵 on some of the damning facts:
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1) Columbus City Schools receive only $2,800 per student (45,000 students) from the state, while the 7,500 voucher-funded private school students within its district are funded at more than $5,400 per student
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2) Cleveland/University Heights: $1,700 for each public school student vs. $5,500 per private/voucher student in the same community
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