SIDNEY — Justice R. Patrick DeWine said he is committed to protecting the rule of law when he stopped by the Sidney Daily News recently to talk about the upcoming race.

DeWine, the Republican incumbent candidate, is running for re-election for the six-year term justice seat on the Ohio Supreme Court at the polls on Nov. 8.

“I am someone who is committed to protect the rule of law. Right now, we live in a time where people feel less and less safe in their communities and it’s critical that we have an Ohio Supreme Court that understands the importance of public safety and protects the rule of law,” said DeWine. “We had a decision this year out of the court; it’s called DeBose, which has been very controversial and has showed the divides in the court. In the DeBose decision, a majority of the court, it was a 4-3 decision, said the local Ohio judges were not allowed to consider public safety when they set bail for violent criminals.”

In the DeBose case, the defendant appealed the $1,500,000 bail handed down by the judge, and the Ohio Supreme Court over-ruled that decision, which allowed for the reduction of the bail amount by two-thirds down to $500,000 for the alleged violent offender. DeWine was in the dissent, voting as one of the three justices who was in favor of allowing judges to consider public safety when setting bail. DeWine said his Democrat opponent, Marilyn Zayas, supports the DeBose decision.

“The case was so controversial that the Ohio State Legislature has put a constitutional amendment on the ballot (on Nov. 8) that would overrule the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision. But, what I think that shows, is that you can’t put a constitutional amendment every time the Ohio Supreme Court makes a bad decision, so we need to make sure we have a court that protects the rule of law,” DeWine said.

DeWine, 54, has served on the Ohio Supreme Court since January 2017. Prior to coming to the Ohio Supreme Court, he served on the First District Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, and was a professor of appellate litigation at the University of Cincinnati. He served as a judge on the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, was a Hamilton Board commissioner, a Cincinnati City Council member and practiced law with a large Cincinnati firm for 13 years. He had also been selected to sit by designation on the Ohio Supreme Court.

There are three issues to be considered, DeWine thinks, that are important in the race for the open justice seat, and they are: the rule of law and public safety; judges who are constitutional conservatives, and are committed to applying the constitution; and judges who apply laws as written, and not legislate from the bench.

When asked about the issue of Roe vs. Wade being overturned and his thoughts about how that could affect Ohio’s “fetal heart beat” law,DeWine said there is currently a case pending in the Ohio Supreme Court that prevents him from commenting on this issue.

“I’m a constitutional conservative. I am committed to protecting the rule of law, and I believe judges should apply the law as written and not legislate from the bench,” DeWine said what he wants voters to know about him.

DeWine lives in Columbus. He and his former wife are the parents of five children. He also is the son of Ohio’s Governor Mike DeWine.

For more information about DeWine’s campaign, visit www.patdewine.com