Not too many female attorneys back then.
When Oney was elected in 1998, she became the first female general trial judge for the Butler County Common Pleas Court.
On Tuesday, the Oxford area resident was elected to a third six-year term and she is still the only woman overseeing felony cases.
At the age of 68, Oney said by law it will be her last term. Ohio law prevents election to a judgeship after the age of 70. She isn’t pleased about anything that will restrict her time on the bench.
“I love the job,” said the petite judge Wednesday morning while signing paperwork in her office. She ran unopposed, but just to assure a win Oney said her husband of 42 years, Rodney, told her on election night he did go out and vote for her.
Oney still looks forward to coming to work daily, leaving her 200-year-old house, two dogs, several peacocks and her retired husband to hold down the homestead.
“It’s interesting. The law is interesting,” Oney said. ”New things still come up all the time and lawyers are a lot of fun.”
Oney didn’t begin her adult life as a law student. The eldest daughter of a physician, Oney earned her first degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1965 in microbiology and a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky in bacteriology in 1970. In 1975, she took up law, earning a degree from the University of Cincinnati.
“As far as I can remember, I was walking down the street and had an out-of-body experience and said ‘I’ll go to law school,’” she said with a laugh.
In truth, jobs at medical labs and schools weren’t paying well in the 1960s and 70s. Being a lawyer looked promising, said the new grandmother.
Not one to stand still
Oney’s gender is not what makes her stand out when she dons her black robe as one of seven Butler County general division judges.
At 5 feet tall, on a good day, she is small in stature, but big in personality, heart and smarts, according to those who know and work with her. Her courtroom is rarely stuffy or boring, just like Oney.
The mother of one son and proud grandmother to a new grandson wears black Reebok sneakers with her robe out of necessity. She shattered her foot parachuting out of a plane in the 1970s, which required extensive surgery.
“I have a gorgeous pair of peacock blue high heels,” she said with longing. “I can’t wear them, not even to sleep in.”
Last year she had knee replacement surgery because of an injury she suffered while riding a bicycle through the woods of West Virginia, where she grew up.
She’s not one to sit still.
Oney pointed to a family photo showing her husband, Rodney, retired dentist, sporting a full head of gray hair.
“My husband says I have given him every single one of his gray hairs,” she said with a laugh.
Oney began her legal career as an assistant public defender in Montgomery County then moved on to private practice for 20 years in Butler County, “taking anything (cases) that came in the door,” she said. Her first judgeship was in Area I Court in Oxford where she served from 1993 to 1999 before moving to her current post.
Assistant Prosecutor David Kash, a veteran lawyer who has known Oney for many years, said no one ran against her simply because, “she does a good job.”
“She is very receptive to both sides of the argument. There is never any predisposition in her decisions. She listens to both arguments and is very evenhanded,” Kash said. “She’s a little eccentric in her demeanor and that’s fine. We get things done and no one feels like you are walking on eggshells in her courtroom.”
County ‘awash in heroin’
Oney said drugs and prison overcrowding are two major challenges to curbing crime and punishing those convicted.
“This county is awash in heroin,” she said, adding that just about any crime can be tied to drugs and someone feeding a habit.
“Treatment is a key, but most of them don’t want it,” she said, adding that others easily go back to their addictions when they are released from prison or treatment programs.
“Their dealer is there to greet them when they get out and slip a sample in their pocket,” she said.
Oney questions and talks with defendants at length when they stand before her, wanting to hear something that might tell her the best course of action for them to become productive citizens. But don’t let her motherly looks fool you, she can come down hard when needed.
A man stood before Oney and said all he needed was one more chance and he would turn his life around.
Oney peered at him and stood up clutching a printout of the man’s criminal past.
“Sir, your record is longer than I am tall,” Oney said in a loud, clear voice. He didn’t get another chance.
Oney said she doesn’t believe her gender matters to those who appear before her, be it defense attorney, prosecutor or defendant.
“I think all they see is the black robe,” she said, noting with a smile they see much less of her black robe than the other judges. Her chair is cranked high and her legs rest on a stool, just to make sure she can see everything in her courtroom and sit comfortably for as long as it takes to hear the cases on her docket.
Defense attorney Chris Pagan, president of the Butler County Bar Association, described Oney as having an open ear for the people who appear before her without regard for their station in life.
“She is an old-fashioned Irish judge with a good sense of humor and a broad heart.” Pagan said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2168 or lpack@coxohio.com.
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