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Ohio Supreme Court Justice Stands By Facebook Post
By: Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau
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Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill, who is the only Democrat holding statewide elected office, says he stands by a controversial Facebook post, in which he disclosed he’d had more than 50 lovers and revealed some identifying details about them.
O’Neill says his point was to get the past out of the way.
“As a candidate for governor I am probably the next victim. I figured I’d make it easy for my enemies just to say, I am not a perfect person, and I would suggest that neither are you.”
He did amend his post to take out details of a few of the more than 50 lovers he claims, but says his post wasn’t inappropriate.
“It’s obviously an appropriate post because we’re talking about real issues for real people.”
And though there are calls for him to resign, he says there’s no way.
“Absolutely not. We don’t have robots on the bench. We have real people. And what my post demonstrates is, I’m a real person.”
O’Neill says he’ll be out of the race if former attorney general Richard Cordray is in, which O’Neill thinks will happen in a week, since Cordray has announced he’s leaving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor condemned O’Neill’s words in a statement.
“I condemn in no uncertain terms Justice O’Neill’s Facebook post. No words can convey my shock. This gross disrespect for women shakes the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.”