ProgressOhio

Ohio public interest attorney Cliff Arnebeck today released a letter that  formally put the Ohio Chamber of Commerce on notice to maintain all records related to Ohio Supreme Court campaigns and related expenditures, in anticipation of the filing of a corrupt practices (state RICO) lawsuit against the Ohio and U.S. Chambers of Commerce based upon their pattern of activity, beginning with their attack upon Justice Alice Robie Resnick in 2000, to permanently tilt Ohio Supreme Court elections in favor of Republican candidates.

The Ohio Supreme Court is currently served entirely by GOP Justices.

According to Arnebeck, Chamber affiliated groups spent more than $14 million of illegal corporate money in favor of Republican candidates in the 2000-2004 election cycles.

Last year, a Chamber aligned group, Citizens for a Strong Ohio, dropped the last of repeated appeals filed by Columbus Attorney Bill Todd to Court decisions against them, in what the Plain Dealer described as “a losing fight to overturn repeated rulings in courts and before the Ohio Election Commission that it acted improperly ” Plain Dealer , December 30, 2006

Ohio’s corrupt practices act permits a successful plaintiff the recovery of treble damages. Previously, Arnebeck defended the NAACP National Voter Fund in a state RICO suit filed by Republicans against ACT, Ohio AFL-CIO, and ACORN just prior to the 2004 election.

View The Letter:

Lawyer: Corporations corrupted court