'Lighten Up' Says Ohio Supreme Court Justice Who Bragged of Sex With 50 Women
Bipartisan reaction was swift after Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill said he'd been "sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females" and defended Sen. Al Franken, Roy Moore and "heterosexual males" in general.
November 17, 2017 at 06:18 PM
4 minute read
Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill.
Sitting Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill boasted Friday on Facebook that he had “been sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females.” In the same post, he lashed out at the “dogs of war” criticizing Sen. Al Franken and said he was “sooooo disappointed by this national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago.”
The original version of O'Neill's post, which he later edited, is below:
In an interview later on Friday with Cleveland.com, O'Neill—who is running as a Democratic candidate for the Ohio governorship—also cited media scrutiny of Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, saying Moore was being denied due process over allegations of past sexual misconduct.
The reaction to the Facebook post was swift, bipartisan and decidedly negative.
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor was among the chorus:
“I condemn in no uncertain terms Justice O'Neill's Facebook post,” O'Connor said in a statement. “No words can convey my shock. This gross disrespect for women shakes the public's confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.”
“We have to be better than this,” tweeted Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a Republican candidate for governor.
“At a moment when our country is having a tough but necessary conversation about sexual harassment and assault, the last thing women needed were Justice O'Neill's degrading and downright strange comments,” Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper said in a tweet.
O'Neill joined the state Supreme Court bench in 2013. Before that he worked as a registered nurse, and he was a judge on Ohio's Eleventh District Court of Appeals from 1997 until 2007.
In another Facebook message late Friday afternoon, O'Neill defended his original post and took aim at “sanctimonious judges who are demanding my resignation,” urging them to “lighten up”:
Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill.
Sitting Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill boasted Friday on Facebook that he had “been sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females.” In the same post, he lashed out at the “dogs of war” criticizing Sen. Al Franken and said he was “sooooo disappointed by this national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago.”
The original version of O'Neill's post, which he later edited, is below:
In an interview later on Friday with Cleveland.com, O'Neill—who is running as a Democratic candidate for the Ohio governorship—also cited media scrutiny of Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, saying Moore was being denied due process over allegations of past sexual misconduct.
The reaction to the Facebook post was swift, bipartisan and decidedly negative.
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice
“I condemn in no uncertain terms Justice O'Neill's Facebook post,” O'Connor said in a statement. “No words can convey my shock. This gross disrespect for women shakes the public's confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.”
“We have to be better than this,” tweeted Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a Republican candidate for governor.
“At a moment when our country is having a tough but necessary conversation about sexual harassment and assault, the last thing women needed were Justice O'Neill's degrading and downright strange comments,” Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper said in a tweet.
O'Neill joined the state Supreme Court bench in 2013. Before that he worked as a registered nurse, and he was a judge on Ohio's Eleventh District Court of Appeals from 1997 until 2007.
In another Facebook message late Friday afternoon, O'Neill defended his original post and took aim at “sanctimonious judges who are demanding my resignation,” urging them to “lighten up”:
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