COLUMBUS, Ohio – A panel of state appellate judges publicly reprimanded Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick on Wednesday, saying her drunken driving conviction violated the state's judicial code of conduct.
No other discipline was recommended.
Other judges have had their law licenses suspended following such a conviction, but the panel said those cases had aggravating circumstances, while Resnick has had no discipline against her since she was sworn in as an attorney in 1964.
Resnick, 66, acknowledged the allegations when an attorney discipline complaint was filed against her in November. The complaint said she violated the part of the code that says, "A judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary."
Resnick was pulled over on Jan. 31 and at first drove away from state troopers who were questioning her. They followed her and later pulled her over again.
In a video shot by a patrol car camera, Resnick tells a police sergeant questioning her that "I did have something to drink." She repeatedly asks to be let go and mentions her rulings as a judge, saying, "My God, you know I decide all these cases in your favor. And my golly, look what you're doing to me."
She pleaded guilty to drunken driving in February and her driver's license was suspended for six months. She said then that she had suffered a relapse of a drinking problem.
The high court usually handles attorney discipline cases, but the justices can't hear a case that involves one of their own. The panel was made up of the chief justice of the appeals courts and the presiding judge of all 12 appellate districts.
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