Rulings on product liability, public records and election laws were among the dozens of decisions handed down by the four Republicans and three Democrats on the Ohio Supreme Court in the last year.
But one case stood out: the lawsuit filed by Michael Berkheimer of Butler County against Wings Over Brookwood. The Ohio Supreme Court split along party lines in ruling the restaurant wasn’t responsible for the serious injuries Berkheimer suffered from a 1-3/8 inch bone in a wing that was listed as "boneless" on the menu. The four Republicans agreed that it was reasonable for a diner to find a piece of bone in "boneless" chicken wings, and that he should have expected that and guarded against it.
“Common sense has to come in. It's not a magical warranty that this is bone free. It's, do you want the traditional wings or do you want more of a chicken nugget?” said Patrick Byrnes, who represented the suppliers of the chicken to the restaurant in arguments before the court in December 2023.
In the majority opinion, Republican Justice Joe Deters wrote: "A diner reading “boneless wings” on a menu would not more believe that the restaurant was warranting the absence of bones in the items than believe that the items were made from chicken wings, just as a person eating “chicken fingers" would know that he had not been served fingers. The food item’s label on the menu described a cooking style; it was not a guarantee."
The decision in July, and its rejection of a request to reconsider the ruling in December, meant the case couldn’t go to a jury. For outgoing Democratic Justice Michael Donnelly, it wasn’t really about chicken wings: “They were legislating from the bench trying to restrict someone's right to a jury trial.”
In December, the court ruled on another case about product liability. It tossed a $650 million judgment awarded to Trumbull and Lake Counties from national pharmacy chains they sued for creating a public nuisance by causing and fueling the deadly opioid epidemic.
“What the General Assembly was saying was we don't want public nuisance encroaching on products liability law. And it doesn't matter whether the product is defective or non defective," Former acting US solicitor general Jeffrey Wall made the argument for the pharmacies in March.
National settlements already agreed to will stand. But the ruling was described as a victory for corporate America, and could affect future cases in which companies are accused of wrongdoing.
Big public records rulings
In October, the court split 4-3 in a public records case brought by the Cincinnati Enquirer, ruling juvenile delinquency records can’t be closed without considering the public interest in accessing those records. But the court also made it clear that it’s not appropriate to follow precedent from the US Supreme Court or federal courts when it comes to federal provisions on individual rights and civil liberties that are in both the US and Ohio constitutions, and that Ohio justices will independently analyze provisions of the Ohio’s constitution.
In December, the court ruled Akron police didn’t have to release to the Beacon Journal the names of eight officers who fired their guns and killed Jayland Walker in 2022 because they are uncharged suspects in investigations, overturning decades of precedent. The deadly shooting got national attention and sparked weeks of protests.
And in April, the justices said a statewide database of information from death certificates with causes of death along with names and addresses is not a public record, in a case from a now-retired Columbus Dispatch reporter tracking COVID in 2020 and 2021.
Election related action in 2024
The justices also released election related rulings. Backers of the Issue 1 redistricting amendment sued over what they claimed was deliberately confusing summary language written by Republicans on the Ohio Ballot Board, who opposed the issue. The panel’s chair, GOP Secretary of State Frank LaRose, said the language attempted to explain a complex 13,000 word amendment.
“I know that there are some that disagree with what I would call brutally honest assessment that we did in the ballot board," said LaRose.
The court upheld most of the Republican-written language. Nearly 54% of voters rejected Issue 1.
Two other possible amendments got second looks after the court ruled Attorney General Dave Yost didn’t have the power to reject them based on their titles. The amendment to repeal and change some voting laws and the proposal ending qualified immunity for police and other government employees are now in the signature gathering stage. But the House and Senate have approved legislation to give the AG the authority to review titles, which Democrats opposed.
“He often is fighting lawsuits on behalf of the state of Ohio with things I know I disagree on. So I certainly don't think we should be giving him that power," said Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) after the vote.
Three Republicans won seats on the court in 2024. It was the second election in which candidates for justice ran with partisan labels. Justice Joe Deters ousted his Democratic colleague Justice Melody Stewart. Hamilton County Judge Megan Shanahan unseated Justice Michael Donnelly, and Franklin County Judge Dan Hawkins beat appeals court judge Lisa Forbes. Jennifer Brunner is now the lone Democrat on the court, and the only Democrat in statewide elected office.
That partisan balance could be important as the court decides cases related to the reproductive rights and abortion access amendment that passed in 2023.
