Marianna gave presentations on significant recent Ohio Supreme Court cases to the staff of the Hamilton County Public Defender’s Office (July 30) and the staff of the Cincinnati City Solicitor (August 20). She also arranged for College of Law sponsorship of a federal court naturalization ceremony, held at the Patricia Corbett Theater on August 28. Marianna selected a 3L student to give the keynote speech and arranged the program, at which Dean Bard and President Ono also spoke.

Marianna’s popular blog Legally Speaking Ohio covered the following topics and issues:

• Merits Decisions Analyzed
  • In Ohio v. Clark, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed the decision of the Ohio Supreme Court. Both opinions were extensively analyzed on the blog.
  • Granger v. Auto-Owners Ins., Slip Opinion No. 2015-Ohio-3279. Holding: In a 5-2 opinion written by Justice Pfeifer, the court held that under the umbrella insurance policy at issue in the case, the insurance company had a duty to defend, and that the inferred intent doctrine was inapplicable in this claim for emotional distress suffered as a result of a housing discrimination incident.
  • State v. Brown, Slip Opinion No. 2015-Ohio-2438. Holding: In a 5-2 opinion written by Justice O’Donnell, the court held that a traffic stop for a minor misdemeanor outside the officer’s statutory jurisdiction or authority violates Article I, Section 14 of the Ohio Constitution.
  • State v. Castagnola, Slip Opinion No. 2015-Ohio-1565. Holding: In a 4-3 opinion written by Justice Kennedy, the court held that the search warrant issued in the case was invalid and the evidence seized as a result had to be suppressed.
• Oral Argument Previews and Analysis
  • John Haight et al. v. Cheap Escape Company et al.  Issue: whether or not an outside salesperson is an employee subject to the minimum wage protections of Article II, Section 34a of the Ohio Constitution.
  • Gene’a Griffith, Executrix for the Estate of Howard E. Griffith, Deceased v. Aultman Hospital. Issue: whether records not maintained in a medical records department are part of a patient’s discoverable medical record.
  • State v. Kona. Issue: whether a noncitizen must be advised of the immigration consequences of a written admission of guilt required by a diversion program.
  • Boone Coleman Construction Co., Inc. v. Village of Piketon, Ohio. Issue: Whether a liquidated damages provision in a public construction contract is valid, or an unenforceable penalty, and whether that determination should be made prospectively or after the fact, looking at the totality of the circumstances.
  • State v. Romell Broom. Issue: whether the Eighth Amendment and Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment bar a second attempt to execute an inmate when the first attempt at lethal injection failed.
  • State v. Jeffrey Arnold. Issue: whether a witness who invokes his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination can be compelled to read his previously filed statement to police, and whether allowing this statement into evidence denies the defendant the right to confront witnesses, and prejudiced the defendant’s right to a fair trial.
  • Board of Health of Cuyahoga County v. Lipson O’Shea Legal Group. Issue: whether information sought from a Board of Health in order to identify homes where children were found with elevated blood lead levels constitutes confidential health information, not subject to release in a public records request.

In her monthly column in The American Israelite, Marianna published

• Are Judicial Elections Different After All?
• Analysis of Ohio v. Clark
• Death Penalty Decision in Glossip v. Gross