Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine won't recuse himself from deciding whether maps approved by his father, Gov. Mike DeWine, violate voter approved-changes in the Ohio Constitution.
But Pat DeWine said he would recuse himself if the court started proceedings to hold Gov. DeWine and fellow members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission in contempt for violating a court order.
"In the event that a contempt proceeding is instituted pursuant to R.C. 2705.02 to impose sanctions on the individual members of the redistricting commission, I would recuse myself from that separate proceeding," Pat DeWine wrote in a text message. Cleveland.com initially reported his decision.
A person can be held in contempt of court for disobeying or resisting a court order. The penalties include fines and possible jail time.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission has until noon Wednesday to explain why it didn't approve new state House and Senate maps. The commission, dominated by Republicans, left Thursday without any legislative maps after rejecting ones proposed by Democrats.
On Tuesday, Republicans on the commission revived talks about legislative maps, saying they could introduce new ones as soon as this week. It's not clear whether that will fend off any contempt of court proceedings.
Meanwhile, several Republican voters and anti-abortion access activists filed a lawsuit in federal court to force the Ohio Supreme Court to approve previously rejected maps.
Original source can be found here.
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