Ohio Judge Suspended for Jailing Spectator Was Properly Removed

An Ohio judge suspended after throwing a courtroom spectator in jail for refusing to take a drug test lost his chance Thursday to remove his successor from office, after a divided state Supreme Court ruled that his seat was properly declared vacant and filled by the governor.

Former Tiffin-Fostoria Municipal Court Judge Mark Repp argued that his law license being suspended for a year beginning in November 2021 didn’t create a vacancy under state law because the specific law at issue didn’t mention suspensions as a reason for being unavailable. The majority of the court’s justices disagreed, writing in a ...