Prosecutor Who Called Criminals ‘Soulless’ Joins Ohio High Court

A prosecutor with more than two decades of big city crime-fighting under his belt will walk into the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday. But he won’t be arguing the cases at the dais; he’ll be sitting on the bench.

It will be the first time Joe Deters, the long-time Republican Hamilton County prosecutor, goes from putting Cincinnati defendants behind bars to weighing whether the law was properly applied. With no previous judicial experience, he’ll hear arguments over a death penalty appeal and a pair of cases challenging whether prison terms can be extended for bad behavior.

Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) ...