State ex rel. Parikh v. Berkowitz

Citations

• 2024 Ohio 4686

Syllabus

ORIGINAL WRITS – MANDAMUS –PROHIBITION – R.C. 1901.31 – Sup.R.44-47:The municipal court judges had a clear legal right to order the clerk to rescind a policy that disabled remote online access to certain categories of case documents. The clerk had a clear legal duty to follow the administrative order instructing him to rescind the policy and restore case access. The municipal court judges lacked an adequate remedy at law because neither holding the clerk in contempt nor a declaratory judgment could compel the clerk to restore access. The clerk was not entitled to a writ of prohibition because the municipal court judges acted within their authority to prevent the clerk from usurping a judicial power, namely the power to balance if an individual's privacy interests outweigh the public's right to access court records. The clerk acted beyond the scope of his office in issuing a policy disabling remote online access to certain cases and disobeying his court's order to rescind the policy and restore access.