This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Ohio. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are men who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.
YouTube Encyclopedic
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The Law You Won't Be Told
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School to Prison Pipeline
Transcription
# The Law You Won't Be Told On a Jury you know your options: guilty, or not. But there's another choice that neither the judge nor the lawyers will tell you -- often because they're not allowed to and also it might better if you *don't* know. This video will tell you that third choice, but be warned: simply *watching* may prevent you from ever serving on a jury -- so this is your last chance to hit the pause button before you learn about... Jury nullification: when the defendant is 100% beyond-a-reasonable-doubt guilty *but* the jurors *also* think he shouldn't be punished. The jury can nullify the law and let him go free. But before your on your next jury and yell 'Null! Booya!' at the judge you should know that just talking about jury nullification in the wrong circumstances can get you arrested. Though a video such as this one, simply acknowledging the *existence* of jury nullification and in *no way advocating* it is totally OK. And, while we're at it: *(CGP Grey is not a lawyer, this is not legal advice it is meant for entertainment purposes only. Seriously, guy, don't do anything in a court of law based on what an Internet Video told you. No joke.)* So why can't you do this? It's because nullification isn't *in* the law †, but exists as a logical consequence of two other laws: First: that juries can't be punished for a 'wrong' decision -- no matter the witnesses, DNA, or video proof show. That's the point of a jury: to be the decider. and Second: when a defendant is found not-guilty, that defendant can't be tried again for the same crime ‡. So there *are* only two stated options: guilty or not, it's just that jury nullification is when the words of the jurors don't match their thoughts -- for which they can't be punished and their not-guilty decision can't be changed. These laws are necessary for juries to exist within a fair system, but the logical consequence is... contentious -- lawyers and judges argue about jury nullification like physicists argue about quantum mechanics. Both are difficult to observe and the interpretation of both has a huge philosophical ramification for the subject as a whole. Is nullification the righteous will of the people or an anarchy of twelve or just how citizens judge their laws? The go-to example in favor of nullification is the fugitive slave law: when Northern juries refused to convict escaped slaves and set them free. Can't argue with that. But the anarchy side is Southern juries refusing to convict white lynch mobs. Not humanity at its best. But both of these are juries nullifying the law. Also juries have *two* options where their thoughts may differ from their words. Jury nullification usually refers to the non-guilty version but juries can convict without evidence just as easily as they can acquit in spite of it. This is jury nullification too and the jurors are protected by the first rule, though the second doesn't apply and judges have the power to overrule a guilty verdict if they think the jurors are… nt the best. And, of course, a guilty defendant can appeal, at least for a little while. Which makes the guilty form of jury nullification weaker than the not-guilty kind. Cold comfort, though. Given the possibility of jurors who might ignore the law as written, it's not surprising when picking jurors for a trial, lawyers -- whose existence is dependent on an orderly society -- will ask about nullification, usually in the slightly roundabout way: "Do you have any beliefs that might prevent you from making a decision based strictly on the law?" If after learning about jury nullification you think it's a good idea: answer 'yes' and you'll be rejected, but answer 'no' with the intent to get on the jury to nullify and you've just committed perjury -- technically a federal crime -- which makes the optimal strategy once on a jury to zip it. But This introduces a problem for jurors who intend to nullify: telling the other 11 angry men about your position is risky, which makes nullification as a tool for fixing unjust laws nation wide problematic. (Not to mention about 95% of criminal charges in the United States never make it to trial and rather end in a plea bargain, but that's a story for another time.) The only question about jury nullification that may matter is if jurors should be *told* about it and the courts are near universal † in their decision: 'no way'. Which might seem self-interested -- again, courts depend on the law -- but there's evidence that telling jurors about nullification changes the way they vote by making evidence less relevant -- which isn't surprising: that's what nullification *is*. But mock trials also show sympathetic defendants get more non-guilty verdicts and unsympathetic defendants get more *guilty* verdicts in front of jurors who were explicitly told about nullification compared to those who weren't. Which sounds bad, but it also isn't difficult to imagine situations where jurors blindly following the law would be terribly unjust -- which is the heart of nullification: juries judge the law, not solely evidence. In the end righteous will of the people, or anarchy, or citizen lawmaking -- the system leaves you to decide -- but as long as courts are fair they require these rules, so jury nullification will always be with us.
Firsts in Ohio's history
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![](/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Robert_Morton_Duncan.jpg/164px-Robert_Morton_Duncan.jpg)
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Lawyers
- First Native American male:[1] James McDonald (1823)[2]
- First African American male: John Mercer Langston (1854)[3]
- First Somali-born male: Ismail Mohamad (2017)[4]
State judges
- First African American: Perry B. Jackson (1922) in 1942[5][6]
- First Jewish American male (Supreme Court of Ohio): Gilbert Bettman (c. 1942)[7]
- First African American male (common pleas): Charles W. White in 1955[8]
- First African American male elected (common pleas): Robert V. Franklin, Jr. in 1968[9]
- First African American male (Ohio Supreme Court): Robert Morton Duncan (1952) in 1969[10]
- First Latino American male (reputed): Joseph Flores (1964) in 1981[11][12][13]
- First Jewish American male (Chief Justice; Ohio Supreme Court): Eric Brown (1979) from 2010-2011[14][15]
Federal judges
- First African American male (U.S. Court of Military Appeals): Robert Morton Duncan (1952) in 1971[10]
- First Greek American male (United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio): Thomas Demetrios Lambros in 1967[16]
- First African American male (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio): George Washington White (1955) in 1980[17]
- First African American male (Judge and Chief Judge: U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio): Randolph Baxter in 1985 and 2004[18]
- First Greek American male (Chief Judge; United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio): Thomas Demetrios Lambros in 1990[16]
- First African American male (Chief Judge; U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio): George Washington White (1955) in 1995[17]
Attorney General of Ohio
- First Jewish American male: Gilbert Bettman in 1928[19]
Assistant U.S. Attorney
- First African American male (Northern District of Ohio): Nathaniel R. Jones (1957) in 1962[20]
Ohio State Bar Association
- First Jewish American male president: Simeon M. Johnson in 1912[21]
- First African American male president: John A. Howard from 1981-1982[22][23]
Firsts in local history
- Athornia Steele:[24] First African American male to serve as the Dean of Capital University Law School (2003) [Delaware, Fairfield, and Franklin Counties, Ohio]
- Andrew Jackson Davison:[25] First African American male lawyer in Athens County, Ohio
- Vincent Zottarelli and Benjamin D. Nicola:[26][27] First Italian American male lawyers in Cleveland, Ohio [Cuyahoga County, Ohio]
- Frank D. Celebrezze:[28] First Italian American male judge in Cleveland, Ohio (1937) [Cuyahoga County, Ohio]
- Pablo Castro:[29] First Hispanic American male magistrate of the Cleveland Municipal Court (2007)
- John Francis:[30] First African American male to serve as the City Attorney for Columbus, Ohio (c. 1977)
- Robert Morton Duncan (1952):[10][31] First African American male elected to serve in a judicial office in Franklin County, Ohio
- William L. Mallory (1986):[32] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Hamilton County First District Court of Appeals of Ohio
- John A. Howard:[22][23] First African American male elected as a judge in Lorain County (Elyria Municipal Court 1984 to 1999) after serving as the first African American President of the Ohio State Bar Association (1981-1982).
- Gustalo Nunez:[33] First Hispanic American male judge in Lorain County, Ohio
- Robert V. Franklin, Jr.:[34] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Toledo Municipal Court (1960) and later the Lucas County Common Pleas Court (1968)
- Charlie Hider:[35] First Arab American male lawyer in Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio
- Robert A. Pinn (1879):[36][37] First African American lawyer in Massillon County, Ohio and Stark County, Ohio[38]
- Moses H. Jones:[39][40] First African American male lawyer in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio
- Russell L. Carter:[41] First African American male judge in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio (1996)
- Arthur Fisher:[42] First African American male elected as a Judge of the Common Pleas Court (Domestic Relations) in Montgomery County, Ohio
- Gerald Parker:[42] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court General Division, Ohio
- Jeff Payton:[43] First African American male judge in Richland County, Ohio
- Robert A. Pinn (1879):[36][37] First African American lawyer in Massillon County, Ohio and Stark County, Ohio[38]
- Clay E. Hunter:[44] First African American male judge in Stark County, Ohio (upon his appointment to the Canton Municipal Court in 1962)
- Kyle L. Stone (2021):[45] First African-American elected prosecutor in Stark County, Ohio
- Joseph D. Roulhac:[46] First African American male judge in Akron, Ohio (Summit County, Ohio; 1967). He was also the first African American Assistant Summit County Prosecutor.
- Isaac C. Hunt, Jr:[47] First African American male to serve as the Dean of University of Akron School of Law (1987)
See also
Other topics of interest
- List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
- List of first women lawyers and judges in Ohio
References
- ^ Dennis, Yvonne Wakim; Hirschfelder, Arlene; Molin, Paulette F. (2022-10-25). Indigenous Firsts: A History of Native American Achievements and Events. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-1-57859-806-9.
- ^ McDonald, the first Native American male lawyer in the United States, completed his legal training in Ohio in 1823. He eventually returned to his home state of Mississippi due to the lack of legal opportunities in Ohio.
- ^ "John Mercer Langston". www.oberlin.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
- ^ Siegel, Jim. "Somali refugee passes bar, runs for Ohio House". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
- ^ Smith, Jessie Carney (2012-12-01). Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9781578594252.
- ^ "Jackson, Perry B." Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
- ^ Landman, Isaac; Cohen, Simon (1942). The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia ...: An Authoritative and Popular Presentation of Jews and Judaism Since the Earliest Times. Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Incorporated.
- ^ "WHITE, CHARLES W." Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University. 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
- ^ "Robert V. Franklin, Jr., 1926-2011". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
- ^ a b c "Robert Morton Duncan". www.supremecourt.ohio.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
- ^ "Congressional Record". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
- ^ "Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
- ^ "Judge was revered member of Hispanic community". The Blade. 2003-10-18. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
- ^ "Eric Brown". www.sconet.state.oh.us. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
- ^ KARFELD, MARILYN H. (8 October 2010). "Brown, O'Connor vie for Supreme Court chief justice". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
- ^ a b "THOMAS LAMBROS - Greek-American judge is honored by his peers". www.ellines.com. February 17, 2021. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ^ a b "George W. White led U.S. District Court: news obituary". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
- ^ KARABIN, SHERRY (September 22, 2023). "Ret. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Randolph Baxter remembered". www.akronlegalnews.com. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
- ^ Writer, Staff. "The next big thing?". Columbus Monthly. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
- ^ Congressional Record, V. 147, Pt. 15, October 25, 2001 to November 7, 2001. Government Printing Office. 2006. ISBN 9780160754241.
- ^ The Reform Advocate. 1912.
- ^ a b "SAYING GOODBYE". newspaperarchive.com. June 20, 2002. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
- ^ a b Howard, Judge John A. "Judge John Howard dies at age 78". The Morning Journal. Retrieved 13 June 2002.
- ^ "Our History - Capital University Law School". law.capital.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ Walker, William (29 January 2020). "In series, students shine light on Athens' first black attorney". The Athens NEWS. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
- ^ Neff, William B. (1921). Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio. Historical publishing Company.
- ^ Price, Mark J. (2017-11-27). Mafia Cop Killers in Akron: The Gang War before Prohibition. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-6382-0.
- ^ "Italian Americans". www.clevelandmemory.org. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
- ^ "3 inducted into Otsego's Hall of Fame". infoweb.newsbank.com. February 21, 2022. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
- ^ "John Francis and Bill Thornton". digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ "Robert Duncan, First Black Justice on the Ohio Supreme Court, Dies at 85". www.courtnewsohio.gov. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ "Municipal Court Judge William Mallory | Hamilton County Courts". Retrieved 2019-01-15.
- ^ "Lorain County's first Hispanic judge remembered for 'making good'". chroniclet.com. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ^ "Robert V. Franklin, Jr., 1926-2011". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
- ^ Hiel, Betsy (March 26, 2000). "Little Syria thrives in Toledo as the world heads toward war". The Blade. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
- ^ a b WebAlive. "Today in Black History, 3/1/2013". Retrieved 2017-09-23.
- ^ a b Knapp, Amy L. "Black History Month: Honoring Massillon notables". The Independent. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- ^ a b "Black History: Underground Railroad & Anti-Slavery". Massillon Museum. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
- ^ "The Dayton Foundation: Black History Month: 5 Innovative Figures of the African-American Community Fund". www.daytonfoundation.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- ^ "About AACF – African-American Community Fund (AACF)". aacfdayton.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- ^ Mendell, David (15 August 1996). "OBITUARY CITY'S FIRST BLACK JUDGE DIES * RUSSELL L. CARTER, 77, WAS A CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY WHO PRACTICED LAW FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS". Dayton Daily News. p. 1.B. ProQuest 253957806.
- ^ a b Moore, Rhonda (2019-01-15). "Two Miami Valley men make history as the first African Americans in their positions". WRGT. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
- ^ "Payton, Richland County's first African-American judge, served on the bench for 22 years. His replacement is white, but said he has a strong history working with many diverse individuals". News-Journal. January 7, 2010. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
- ^ Canton, Ohio, Attorney Named Municipal Judge. Jet Magazine. 1962-03-15.
- ^ Ohio's Only Black Elected Prosecutor Prepares To Take Office In Stark County. 28 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
- ^ bjstaff. "First black judge in Akron served on bench for 20 years". www.ohio.com. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
- ^ Pernell, LeRoy (2007). "Reflecting on the Dream of the Marathon Man: Black Dean Longevity and Its Impact on Opportunity and Diversity". University of Toledo Law Review. 38.
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