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Pfeifer recalls a time when the court held a state government official in contempt. It was when the Ohio Department of Natural Resource failed to pay property owners along Grand Lake St. Marys for flood damage so the court found former ODNR Director Jim Zehringer in contempt of court.
“I don’t think that sent shivers down the spine of the director of natural resources because he was taking orders from Gov. Kasich at the time and he’s not going to violate his bosses orders. It didn’t really matter that the court found him in contempt,” said Pfeifer.
The former justice and current executive director of the Ohio Judicial Conference said unless additional penalties are attached, holding an official in contempt doesn’t do much.
“Certainly the director of natural resources didn’t go to jail or face any financial penalty, personal penalty at all. So it’s sort of a toothless tool, contempt is,” Pfeifer said.
The League of Women Voters of Ohio has filed a motion asking the court to require an explanation for why Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission failed to comply with the court order to adopt new House and Senate district maps.