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Home > Blogs > Dayton Courts: Legal and crime news > Archives > 2010 > April > 02 > Entry
Chief Justice Moyer dies at 70
COLUMBUS — Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer died unexpectedly today at age 70, the Supreme Court of Ohio announced Friday, April 2.
Moyer had been experiencing health problems, but they were not thought to be life threatening, according to a statement released by the court. He was admitted to Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus late Thursday morning, and he was pronounced dead at approximately 4 p.m. Friday.
“I am saddened to learn of the passing of my friend and Ohio’s Chief Justice, Thomas Moyer. I was honored when Tom swore me in as governor. That was the beginning of a warm and close working relationship - the kind of mutually respectful relationship you always envision leaders of different branches of government having,” Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said in a statement.
“Tom unselfishly served the people of Ohio for so many years. I know he was very much looking forward to his retirement, but he loved what he did.”
Strickland also asked that flags be flown at half-staff in honor of Moyer.
Here’s the Associated Press story on Moyer’s death:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, the longest-serving current state Supreme Court chief justice in the United States, died Friday at age 70.
Moyer was admitted to a Columbus hospital Thursday morning after experiencing gastrointestinal problems and died Friday afternoon, court spokesman Chris Davey said. Over the past few months Moyer had health problems that weren’t believed to be life-threatening.
Moyer, the second-longest-serving Ohio chief justice in state history, became chief justice in 1987. He had planned to retire after finishing his current term at the end of the year.
Justice Paul Pfeifer, who met Moyer when both were students at the Ohio State University law school, said he and his colleagues were brought to tears.
“It’s just a huge tragedy for all of us and a great loss for his family and for the citizens of Ohio,” he said. “He was the quintessential image, and not just image but the reality of dignity of the office of chief justice, and of the role of the courts in our society.”
Pfeifer said Moyer’s health had deteriorated over the past weeks but he was in court on Tuesday, despite looking “very ill,” and returned Wednesday looking much better. “I am so disappointed for him and his family that we weren’t able to do … a very grand party at the end of his 24 years as chief justice,” Pfeifer said. “He was deprived of that honor, but knowing Tom he also would have been proud of himself to be able to preside right up to the end of his life.”
Among the influential cases Moyer oversaw was one through which the court three times declared Ohio’s school funding system unconstitutional. Bill Phillis, who led the Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, which fought Ohio’s school funding formula before the court, praised Moyer’s conduct.
“He was always an honorable person. There was never any question about the integrity of Tom Moyer,” he said. “That’s not to say we agreed with Tom … but you never questioned his honesty and integrity.”
Among Moyer’s main efforts was to change the way judges are selected in Ohio. He had been pushing for a constitutional amendment requiring the appointment of state Supreme Court justices, rather that selection through election, because he believed having judges seek large campaign donations tainted the legal system.
“It doesn’t support the fundamental principle of judges acting fairly and impartially,” Moyer told The Associated Press in December. Catherine Turcer, campaign finance director for Ohio Citizen Action, a grassroots consumer advocacy group, called Moyer a good advocate for changing the system.
“I really admired that because that’s not easy to do,” she said. “Here he is, he’s the chief justice and he’s saying, ‘Hey, there’s something really wrong here. We need to stop combining money and judges.’ To say, ‘Hey, we need to completely change things,’ that’s not easy.”
Ohio State University law professor Marc Spindelman, who argued cases before the court, said Moyer would take time from his busy schedule to speak to students.
“This is a reeling loss for the court. The chief justice was a great statesman, in addition to being an absolutely hardworking public servant and just a very decent human being,” Spindelman said. “He was the court’s moderating impulse.”
Moyer also had worked to adopt out-of-court conflict resolution strategies and to bring interpreters into the courts for non-English speakers. He assisted other courts across the nation and world, including those in China, Argentina and Ukraine.
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