In June 2021, when Catholic Archbishop José H. Gomez stated that President Joe Biden should not receive Communion because he is pro-choice, I wrote in an opinion piece, “Every day, someone in the Catholic Church’s hierarchy wakes up and says, ‘What can we do today to show how out of touch we are with our people and lose more of them?’”
Joining the sclerotic hierarchy is Bishop Earl Fernandes. Installed ...
Continue Reading → The comic strip character Pogo from 50 years ago had it right. “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
Our own ego and self-interest are defeating us.
Ego is crippling. We think we know more than experts and can disregard their guidance. Former law school professor James McElhaney cautioned attorneys about letting ego—Mongo, as he called it—taking over, but his admonition applies to everyone.
Mongo is the inner beast ...
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What does the law say about a police officer’s obligations when stopping and questioning someone for possible criminal conduct? What does a police officer have to consider before making the stop? Does racial bias enter the equation? Are citizens required to comply? How is it that sometimes these stops end with violence, sometimes a shooting? Listen to our conversation with Robert Meader, a former career police officer and commander ...
Continue Reading →In a guest column published on March 25, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner cautioned against attacks on the judiciary because they undermine confidence in the courts. In his guest column the following week, Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party Bob Paduchik criticized Brunner being a thin-skinned politician. Can both perspectives be right?
Brunner’s guest column followed on the heels of House Republican Bill Seitz and two other ...
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My law partner, John Gonzales (“Gonzo”), and I (Jack D’Aurora) have been producing a podcast for about two years. We’ve changed our image—our marketing folks call this “rebranding”— from “Lawyer Up Columbus” to “JUSTUS with Jack & Gonzo” to better reflect what our show is all about—social justice.
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Roy Pompa faces a civil judgment for $114,250,00 for having sexually abused Amanda Brandt 34 times when she was a middle schooler.
The abuse came during sleepovers at Pompa’s house when Amanda was a guest of Pompa’s daughter.
Pompa is serving a life sentence for child rape, and he’s now being represented before the Ohio Supreme Court by a high profile, business litigation firm, Zeiger Tigges & Little, which in and ...
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If you don’t know what critical race theory (CRT) is, don’t feel bad. Neither do the folks in charge of K-12 education in Ohio.
Let’s go back to July 2020 when the Ohio State Board of Education passed “a resolution to condemn racism.” Acknowledging disparities in the education system for students of color and whites, the board required all Department of Education employees and contractors to undergo implicit bias ...
Continue Reading →There’s something wrong in America: we’ve come to accept as unavoidable a staggering number of gun deaths annually.
State legislatures, either stymied by the thought of judicial review or fearful of political fallout, are doing nothing, and Republican dominated legislatures promote gun proliferation. Ohio’s General Assembly wants to do away with permits for concealed carry.
Ponder this: in the last two decades 15,000 military members and civilian contractors died in the ...
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