Title: In re Disqualification of Judges of the First Dist. Court of Appeals

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

[Cite as In re Disqualification of Judges of the First Dist. Court of Appeals, 91 
Ohio St.3d 1207, 2000-Ohio-105.] 
 
 
 
IN RE DISQUALIFICATION OF JUDGES OF THE FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF 
APPEALS. 
KOUKIOS  v. GANSON ET AL. 
[Cite as In re Disqualification of Judges of the First Dist. Court of Appeals 
(2000), 91 Ohio St.3d 1207.] 
Judges — Affidavit of disqualification — Underlying case involves Cincinnati Bar 
Association and a law firm — Allegation that judges’ membership in bar 
association creates a conflict of interest in reviewing the underlying case 
— Canon 2 does not require disqualification when the judges are not 
officers or trustees in an organization that frequently appears in 
adversarial proceedings before them. 
(No. 00-AP-096 — Decided October 17, 2000.) 
ON AFFIDAVIT OF DISQUALIFICATION in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court 
and Court of Appeals case Nos. A-9902104 and C-000542. 
__________________ 
 
MOYER, C.J. This affidavit of disqualification filed by Evans Koukios 
seeks the disqualification of all the judges of the First District Court of Appeals. 
 
Affiant is the plaintiff-appellant in a pending matter in which the 
Cincinnati Bar Association and a law firm are the defendants-appellees.  He 
asserts that the judges of the First District Court of Appeals should be disqualified 
because their membership in the Cincinnati Bar Association creates a conflict of 
interest in reviewing the underlying case. 
 
Canon 2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct provides that judges may belong 
to organizations  devoted to improvement of the law and the legal system, such as 
bar associations, provided that they may not serve as an officers or trustees if the 
organization appears frequently in adversarial proceedings before the judge.  
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
2 
Here, the judges indicate that they do not hold office in the Cincinnati Bar 
Association and do not receive any tangible benefit from their membership that 
would impact on their ability to be fair and impartial in the underlying 
proceeding.  Based on these facts, I cannot conclude that the disqualification of 
the judges is warranted to ensure the integrity of the proceedings. 
 
This holding is consistent with In re Disqualification of Fuerst (1996), 77 
Ohio St.3d 1253, 674 N.E.2d 361, in which the plaintiff in a civil action brought 
against the Catholic Diocese sought the disqualification of all trial judges in 
Cuyahoga County who were members of the Catholic Church.  In Fuerst, I 
declined to establish a per se rule of disqualification based on a judge’s religious 
affiliation, absent some affirmative indication of bias, prejudice, or other 
disqualifying interest.  As was the case in Fuerst, affiant in this case has failed to 
demonstrate specific indications that the judges of the First District Court of 
Appeals will not fairly and impartially consider the matters raised in this appeal. 
 
For these reasons, the affidavit of disqualification is found not well taken 
and is denied. 
__________________