A Logan County judge must dip into his court’s budget to pay thousands of dollars in attorney fees to a woman who appealed his decision to restrict access to court records.
In what is apparently the first ruling of its kind, the Ohio Supreme Court yesterday upheld a lower-court decision that the judge must pay the woman’s legal fees because he violated the state’s public-records law.
The justices’ unanimous decision upheld an appellate court ruling against Logan County Family Court Judge Michael A. Brady of Bellefontaine.
The appeals court ordered Brady to pay $3,250 in legal fees incurred by Rosanna Miller after it found the judge improperly restricted access to a copy of a medical assessment in a guardianship case involving her father.
Brady appealed, arguing that the ruling applying Ohio’s public-records law to the courts violated the constitutional separation of powers.
The Supreme Court sidestepped that issue, saying Brady forfeited his right to use that argument by not raising it earlier.
Instead, the justices agreed that Brady had violated the public-records law and upheld the award to Miller, who the court said also is entitled to be paid for her costs in contesting Brady’s appeal to the high court.
Cleveland lawyer David Marburger, a public-records-law expert who represented Brady without charge, said he is concerned that judicial independence might be compromised if a judge can be punished financially for his or her rulings.
“The idea that a judge adjudicates at the risk of creating liability for his budget is troublesome, to say the least,” he said.
Grant Wolfe, a Columbus lawyer who represented Miller, welcomed the ruling.
“It’s been a long road for her,” he said. “She feels vindicated that she was right. ... This ruling favors the public’s right to know.”
Miller wanted a copy of the medical assessment in her father’s case, but Brady ruled that she could not have a copy and could review the record only in the presence of court employees.