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Candidate gets law license suspended

Promoting false information of 11th District Court of Appeals opponent nets six-month suspension

An unsuccessful candidate for judge of the 11th District Court of Appeals in both 2014 and 2016 received a six-month law license suspension from the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Rock Creek attorney Ron M. Tamburrino said he has advised his lawyer to take steps in bringing  the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I am disappointed with (the court’s) majority opinion because I believe it punishes campaign speech in violation of the First Amendment,” Tamburrino told the Tribune Chronicle Wednesday.

The court ruled Tamburrino violated the Ohio Judicial Code of Conduct using reckless disregard by putting false information about his 2014 opponent, Judge Timothy P. Cannon, in two television commercials. Tamburrino lost that election, and in November, the Republican was defeated by incumbent 11th District Judge Thomas Wright of Howland, receiving  42 percent of the vote.

Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger, in writing for a majority of the high court, held that Tamburrino’s statements were false and “impugned the integrity of his opponent as a jurist and public servant.”

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Judith F. French wrote the ads were protected by the First Amendment.

Tamburrino also agreed with French’s opinion that noted the campaign statements at issue were “reasonably susceptible to truthful interpretations.”

In a campaign interview earlier this fall, Tamburrino complained that campaign rules for judicial candidates are unfair.

“I am concerned that the majority opinion fails to share our concerns about affording judicial candidates due process of law in disputes involving campaign speech,” Tamburrino said Wednesday.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com

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