JUDGE STEWART ARGUES DIVERSITY CRUCIAL FOR OHIO SUPREME COURT
TOLEDO - Judge Melody J. Stewart started reading the law books that a company executive/law student brought into the health-care management office where she worked. That led to law school, teaching law at schools like the Univ. of Toledo, and ultimately the bench of the 8th District Court of Appeals for 12 years. A Democrat and African American, she is running for what is now an all-Republican, all-white Ohio Supreme Court.
“My opponent is certainly qualified and competent but does not improve the court in any respect... If anything, it may be more detrimental to the court because it maintains the grave possibility of group think... My election improves the court with diversity of background, diversity of thought. Ohio is a very diverse state. We are urban, rural, suburban, farming communities, technology, educational institutions, blue collar, white collar, no collar. The highest level of the judiciary should be more reflective of understanding those pockets...”