Friday, November 19, 1999
Business ads slam justice for liability-limits ruling
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Business and insurance interests already have started their campaign against Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick, author of a controversial decision that struck down limits on damage awards in liability lawsuits.
Republicans have yet to find someone to challenge Justice Resnick next year. But a business- and insurance-backed group called Americans for Job Security (AJS) is running radio ads in Columbus and Toledo condemning the Toledo Democrat's opinion in the civil justice case.
Because the “issue advocacy” ad doesn't promote a candidate, the group doesn't have to disclose the names of corporations or organizations that financed it.
“I thought Ohio was on the leading edge of reining in outrageous lawsuits,” a female announcer says during the ad. “We were,” replies a male announcer, “that is until Alice Resnick fixed it for the trial lawyers and overturned real reforms proposed by the governor and the legislature.”
The ad also mentions multimillion-dollar damage awards in three civil lawsuits. It ends with a line that has become familiar in congressional campaigns, where issue ads financed by business and labor groups have become commonplace.
“Call Justice Resnick. Ask her whose side is she on anyway.”
Handed down in August, the Supreme Court's civil justice decision overturned a Republican-sponsored initiative to limit product liability and medical malpractice lawsuits.
Writing for the 4-3 majority, which also included another Democrat and two Republican justices, Justice Resnick said lawmakers overstepped their authority by trying to limit the rights of Ohioans to settle civil disputes in court.
She could not be reached for comment about the ad.
The style of the ad financed by AJS is similar to TV and radio spots produced by organized labor during the 1996 congressional elections.
AJS spent $4.5 million on pro-business issue ads in 1998 campaigns, the group's annual report says.
Labor leaders took issue with the tone of the Resnick ad, even though unions have vowed to spend at least $28 million nationally on issue ads next year.
“It's one thing to generate debate on policy issues,” said Donald Day, secretary-treasurer of the Ohio AFL-CIO. “It's another thing to harass a Supreme Court judge who must determine whether public policy tramples on constitutional rights.”
Unions and trial lawyers filed the lawsuit that led to Justice Resnick's decision. Both interest groups also are expected to play major roles in financing her re-election campaign.
David Carney, chief executive officer of AJS and a longtime Republican political strategist, called the ad the first of several campaign efforts the group is planning for Ohio.
Mr. Carney refused to name his group's financial backers.
“We're trying to bring the issue down to ideas people can understand,” Mr. Carney said. “There is no more significant act by a public official in America that hurts job growth and economic development than her decision.”
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