A review of several important cases handled by the court during his tenure tells us Wintersheimer is too willing to ignore the clear language of the state constitution, too willing to overlook prosecutorial and judicial error in criminal cases, too willing to turn his back on religious freedom, too willing to deny individual rights to women and homosexuals. A couple of times, though, Wintersheimer wrote majority opinions that ignored clear constitutional prohibitions. We'll be among the first to admit that our archaic state constitution is far too detailed and far too restrictive. We'll also acknowledge that each of these rulings ultimately had, or may have, considerable public benefit. But we still believe there is a right way and a wrong way to rewrite the constitution.
Judicial fiat is the wrong way.
Kagin decided on a legal career after a brief period of teaching English literature in college. He practiced in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Louisville before moving to Maysville a few years ago. Because ethics rules bar judicial candidates from addressing legal issues in their campaigns, we have no idea how Kagin would vote on the cases that might come before him. What we do know is that he has an extensive background in the practice of constitutional law, and a scholarly knowledge of and appreciation for legal history. That combination gives Edwin F. Kagin the potential to be an intellectual force on the Supreme Court.