Sharon Kennedy
Current Position: Ohio Supreme Court Justice
Running against Justice Jennifer Brunner for Chief Justice
Bail Reform
Disagreed with the Court’s decision in DuBose v. McGuffey, arguing it used the wrong standard of review and the amount of cash bail is within the trial court’s discretion
Redistricting
Abortion
In a 2022 questionnaire for Greater Cincinnati Right to Life, Kennedy agreed with the following statements:
"In Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a “right to privacy” under the Constitution that includes abortion. The Constitution does not include this right."
“An unborn child is biologically human at every stage of his or her biological development, beginning at fertilization.”
“There is no provision in the current Ohio Constitution intended to require the use of public funds for abortion.”
Kennedy gave the keynote speech at Greater Toledo Right to Life's 2017 legislative briefing breakfast. She declined to recuse herself from hearing two abortion-related cases appearing before the Ohio Supreme Court that year, including one from Toledo. In 2018, Justice Kennedy joined the majority, ruling to overturn lower court rulings that said state restrictions on abortion clinics were unconstitutional and upheld a state order to close Toledo's only abortion clinic for failing to follow state law.
LGBTQ+ Issues
Has been vocal in her opposition to the issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community, including indicating many times that she does not support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Ohioans.
Clean Campaign
Declined to sign the Ohio State Bar Association’s Judicial Election Campaign Advertising Monitoring Committee's "clean campaign agreement"
2020 Election
When asked if the 2020 election results were legitimate, said "Biden is the president. I'm not going to talk about the election. There are cases pending."
Endorsements include: Buckeye Firearms Association, Conservative Republican Leadership Committee, Ohio Bail Agents Association, Ohio Right to Life, Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio Chamber of Commerce