The MeidasTouch Podcast - This Ohio Supreme Court race could determine our nation’s future (Judge Zayas)

Episode Date: August 25, 2022

On The Mighty, we feature some of the most impactful responses, reactions, narratives, musings, and rants of Meidas content creators. New episodes of the traditional MeidasTouch Podcast drop every Tuesday and Friday morning. The rest of the week, we deliver The Mighty! On today's episode of The Mighty, we are presenting you with an exclusive interview with Judge Marilyn Zayas, the Democratic candidate running for the Ohio Supreme Court. Zayas is currently a judge on Hamilton County's First District Court of Appeals. An embodiment of the American Dream, Zayas overcame numerous childhood obstacles through hard work, dedication and persistence. Judge Zayas shares with us how she went from being a child of immigrants in a tough neighborhood in East Harlem, NY, to running to be a justice on the highest court in the State of Ohio. This Supreme Court race could have a powerful impact on our nation's future, and it is vital that we all pay attention. Shop Meidas Merch at: https://store.meidastouch.com Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601 The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 The Weekend Show: https://pod.link/1612691018 The Tony Michaels Podcast: https://pod.link/1561049560 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Welcome to the Midas Touch Special Edition, The Mighty. As you know, we've been highlighting races for state Supreme Courts across the country. And while races for federal offices, members of Congress, members of the Senate, or at the state level, governor's races get a lot of attention, we here at Midas Touch also focus very heavily on what is going on in the court system. It's something I feel deeply about as a lawyer who's been a member of the California Bar since 2010. But critical decisions are being decided in our courts every single day, from issues over gerrymandering to a woman's right to choose to dark money in politics. You name it, these cases are coming

before the courts every single day. And we saw when it came to the 2020 election, the importance of the courts making sure that our elections were free and fair. And so we turn now to an election for state Supreme Court judge in Ohio. And we're joined by Judge Marilyn Zias, who served in Ohio's first district court of appeals since 2016. Zias has decided over 1,000 cases and has served even by appointment of the chief justice on four additional court of appeals and on the Ohio Supreme Court. Judge Zias is running against Pat DeWine, the governor's son, who I don't think we need more president's sons and governor's sons and Congress members' sons and brothers and sisters. I prefer people who have records of success running for office. And no one exemplifies running for office with success and based on merit more than Judge Zaius.

So I'm proud to have you on the show, Judge Zayas. Thanks for joining us here on the Midas Touch podcast, Mighty Edition. Thank you, Ben. I'm super excited to be here and very honored. So let's talk about your background, Judge, first. And I always like to shed light on how do you become a court of appeals judge? What would make someone want to be able to run for the highest court in their state? But maybe start with just some of your background first of what led you down this path towards law and to becoming a judge. Absolutely. So for me, it began when I was a teenager and I was accompanying my mom to court. She had gotten out of a difficult marriage and she was fighting to protect my brother. And I came as sort of her

ad hoc interpreter. She wasn't provided a courtroom interpreter. And I started to really watch what was going on. And, you know, there were moments that I felt like my mom was heard, was understood. And then there were times that I felt that I wasn't very keen on what I was seeing. And I felt that, you know, there were ways to do things better. My walk away from that is I really personally experienced the impact that the court system has on people. And I wanted to be one of those people that, you know, at that point, I saw myself as potentially as an attorney, never dreamt of being a judge. But I wanted to be one of those people that stand next to people in those difficult times. Now, I put that dream off to the side because I was a STEM kid before STEM existed.

And I set out to be an electrical engineer and eventually found my way to technology. I wanted to have an undergraduate degree that would lead to a job that I would be self-sufficient. I grew up in those really difficult neighborhoods, those inner city neighborhoods that, you know, you don't want to be caught outside once you get started. And so I needed to be self-sufficient and I needed to, you know, I wanted to really have a good life and to be able to move away from my circumstances. I came to Ohio 34 years ago to work for Procter & Gamble in technology. And it came to the point that it was almost my introduction, like, hi, I'm Marilyn, and someday I'm going to be an attorney.

And I finally said, well, Marilyn, you better rip that bandaid off and do that. And so I left the security of Procter & Gamble. By then I was married. I had three kids under the age of four, but I so wanted to be an attorney that I just went for it. And I was a practitioner for nearly 20 years, did everything from work for a big firm as an intellectual property litigator to working for the public defender's office to building my practice from the ground up. But ultimately, in Ohio, to be a state judge, it's an elected function. And I think that there is some beauty to that system because what the system allows is people like myself who come from unconventional backgrounds and circumstances to be able to serve the public as a judge. Before I ran, I had not even run for condo association president. I knew nothing about politics when I got into this. What I did know is what it was like to be in front of a judge

that understood, embodied what a judge should be and that was giving everyone a fair chance. Because growing up as that little girl, that's all I wanted was a fair chance. Because growing up as that little girl, that's all I wanted was a fair chance. And that's really what people want when they come to court. So tell me, a lot of people wonder, could I get into politics? And as you said, your background, you never thought you'd even run for office

the first time that you ran. And so what was that experience like? And how did you connect with voters? And we'll then talk about kind of the current issues facing Ohio. But what lessons did you learn early on when you had to run for office? At the beginning, it was really fueled by passion. I felt like I had jumped off a cliff into the abyss and I didn't know what I was going to land on.

But what I did know is why I got into it. And that was the fuel that kept me going forward. I was very blessed because God really put into my path the people that I needed. Many of those people, almost everyone in my campaign had never been involved in a political campaign as well. So we were sort of like the blind leading the blind, but we knew why we were doing it. We were all smart. We all watched, we all learned. And ultimately my goal in my campaign in 2016 was to meet people where they were. I was willing to meet anyone in any part of my constituency. And my goal was for me to be able to share who I was.

And that's one of the things I love about Ohio. You know, this has been my adopted home for 34 years. People in Ohio will give you an opportunity. They will listen. They will pause. They will pause and listen to you. And that's all that I needed. Because even looking at me, you know,

I don't think that I look like the typical person who runs for political office. I certainly have a different set of pedigree than most of the people. And especially at that time, there was a lot of folks that were elected officials in my area that were sons of, daughters of, cousins of. And here I was with this weird last name that begins with the letter Z that no one had even seen before in this region, running for the Court of Appeals when I was elected. And I always call it when I was hired. I look at an election as being hired. It was just such a blessing to have that opportunity to represent everyone. I came into a court that part of my goal was to restore the integrity of my court of appeals. I came into a court where the reputation that I had heard from attorneys

is that it is the rubber stamping court. And what that means is that people felt that when you took a decision that had been made and appealed it to my court, that oftentimes it was futile, that the court was not going to listen and not going to follow the law. So my court of appeals is three judges for every case. The majority is all three or two. I will tell you, so the dissent is when you say, hey, this is why the majority is wrong, or this is why they're not following the law. My first day as a judge hearing cases on the court of appeals, I wrote two dissents explaining why the majority was not following the law. And now there's been a lot of change at my court of appeals and it has a

completely different reputation. And the attorneys are very, very happy. Recently, I met an attorney from out of county who comes periodically to my court. And he said, wow, the experience is so different because I know. And I love it because he used my words. He says, I know when I come to your court of appeals that I have a fair chance. And that's all that everybody wants when they go to court. I think that's all that everybody wants as Americans. Also, they want a fair chance. They don't want to feel

that they're being exploited in any way. They don't want to feel that the deck of cards is stacked against them. And on the one hand, for all this period of time, you had Republicans and radical right people fear mongering and selling a bill of goods to people. I feel like in this 2020 election, generally at the federal level, at local levels, I do feel like Democrats have gotten their mojo back a little bit and have finally spoken to people. And whereas Republicans are selling a bill of goods. Democrats are selling policies and programs and philosophies that they could actually deliver on and then deliver on. And I see that contrast playing out at all levels. I mean, can you speak to what's going on in Ohio now and the race that you're

running and what your opponent is trying to sell to voters versus what you're trying to deliver if you're elected as state Supreme Court judge in Ohio? I mean, my particular seat, I look at it as that I'm running in order to restore confidence and integrity into my seat. One of the issues with my opponent is that there's been more than one case, including the gerrymandered district case, district maps case, in which his father had a heavy hand in the case and he refused to recuse from the case. I think it's pretty clear if my cousin comes into my court that I should say, hey, I need to step aside. Even if I believe that I can be unbiased and that I can be impartial, the appearance is just as important.

The judicial canon says in Ohio that we are all governed by, even all the justices on the Supreme Court of the state, if your impartiality could be questioned, then we as judge and justices are to recuse from the case. To me, this is a fight for everyone. I'm not here for any particular demographic. I'm here to ensure that the court is open for everyone. Unfortunately, I'm not sure my opponent feels the same way. He was endorsed by four big business organizations, including the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, and they chose him because he was reliable. And so, you know, the question is, do you want someone representing you at the Supreme Court that is reliable for big business? Or do you want someone that has a record of serving everyone and be reliable on the law. That's my reputation. When Zia is on the bench, she's going to be prepared, she's going to be thoughtful,

and she is going to follow the law. When I ran for re-election in 18, I was supported by both prosecutors and public defenders and criminal defense attorneys. Hey, Brett here. Taking a quick break from this interview because we need you to be geared up for Rovember. That's right. Rovember is upon us and Republicans have not even begun to realize the sleeping giant that they have awakened by taking away our rights. Go to store.midastouch.com and get your November pins, tees, and v-necks. Also, make sure to get your row, row, row your vote tee, and so much more. That's store.midastouch.com, store.midastouch.com. Now, back to our interview. And most people listening to this, I would say all of the people listening to this,

aren't big business billionaires. They are regular people. Wouldn't a person want a fair shake and not the scales of justice to just be tipped in the favor of big business? Isn't that just an obvious thing you think people would want? Absolutely. But also who's against big business? Look, Procter & Gamble brought me to my utopia, Ohio, 34 years ago. So I'm not against anything. I'm not for anything. I'm for the law. You know, my whole thing is like, if you're faithful to the law, then you're going to be faithful to the community. And faithful to the law includes being faithful to the Constitution, individual rights and civil liberties, they mean something. They are the

foundation of our country, and they mean something. And are the foundation of our country and they mean something. And judge the words that you keep saying throughout this interview are the same words that are the plank of your campaign and happen to be the words right behind your head here in this interview, integrity, impartiality, independence. So important. Do you think the current makeup of the Ohio Supreme Court represents those values? And at large, do you think the current makeup of the Ohio Supreme Court represents those values? And at large, do you think the courts in America, the Supreme Court of America, do you think those represent those values? Do you think people feel that way right now about these institutions? Well, the confidence of the judiciary is certainly diminishing in this country,

and people are really questioning this branch of government. And think about it this way. We have three branches of government. They're co-equal branches. Two of them by nature are political. People vote for their representatives of Congress or at the state house based on the issues that they care about. The executive also tends to be political by nature. The judiciary is the one branch of the government that is to be apolitical because it's there to serve everyone. I, as a judge, am not here and have never been here to push forward a political agenda. And that's a concern. So even with, for example, our Supreme Court, we have a chief justice who unfortunately can no longer run for her seat

because she's constitutionally infirm. So in Ohio, once you hit 70, you cannot run for state judge. Age limits. Well, age limits, exactly. So when she casted her vote as to whether the redistricting maps were meeting the constitutional requirements that the people of Ohio had voted into the Constitution, because she found them to be unconstitutional. And some of the other decisions that she has made, her own party called upon her impeachment. You know, impeachment isn't even a term that's used with the judiciary. You know, you don't like your judge, you vote him out. But, you know, judges, there shouldn't be any political system influencing

a judge and trying to tell a judge, you know, what they believe is the law that they that that judge should be following and influencing the decisions of that judge. I find that incredibly troubling. Yeah, I think one of the ironies as well of these campaigns when you're running as an elected judge as opposed to being appointed is you're running as an elected judge, as opposed to being appointed, is that these are apolitical positions, but you sort of have to run a political campaign, which sort of goes against that in certain ways. And I've seen the attacks that have come your way. I mean, your opponent is fear mongering like crazy. And that seems to be the playbook that we see elsewhere. What do you say to voters

who are hearing these fear mongering advertisements, trying to scare them about your platform and what you stand for? You know, the question becomes, what is he seeking to protect? What is the status quo that is sought to be protected? So one of the fear mongering is, you know, portraying, portraying me as if I'm something that's scary, something that is like, you know, portraying, portraying me as if I'm something that's scary, something that is like, you know, as if I'm advocating for crime. I don't know anybody who advocates for crime. People are advocating for justice and fairness. Nobody's advocating for crime. You know, but look, I'm one of those kids that we, when I was three years old, we moved into a neighborhood in New York City. We moved from Spanish Harlem into a new neighborhood.

And at that time, it was just a regular working class neighborhood. And within a couple of years, the heroin epidemic of the 70s completely devastated my neighborhood. And so between crimes and drugs, it was like a light switch. My neighborhood completely changed. I will never forget that. And that really has formed the foundation of who I am and who I was as an attorney and who I am as a judge, because I know the impact that crime and drugs have on not only communities, but on people's individual lives. My son died of a heroin overdose back in the 70s during this time period. So this was a time that heroin was not on the radar nationally the way it is now. But I lived through that. And it really impacted my brothers and I. I have three brothers.

I'm the only girl. So I eventually went in the direction of law because I felt that that was a great way to be able to help people and to be able to also set a path in which you are really following the rule of law. But my oldest brother is a career police officer. So that's the impact it had on him. He went into law enforcement, and his career was ended when he was hit by a drunk driver. He survived that miraculously. My other two brothers went into education. They're both teachers. One is a STEM teacher for his elementary school. The other one is a high school math and science teacher. So it really had a very profound impact on us. And we all are striving to leave a world that's better for the next generation.

It brings me great joy when a child has an opportunity that they may not have had otherwise, because I don't want other children to go through some of the issues and some of the traumas that I had gone through. Well, your story is just so inspiring, Judge. And you're really the embodiment of the American dream in so many ways. And it's such a contrast to your opponent, who is just the son of the governor. I mean, it's just such a stark difference. I mean, what's your message to the person who may be listening to this, who may be growing

up in a tough environment like you grew up in a tough environment, hearing your story of becoming the first Latina ever elected to the Ohio court of appeals, overcoming your childhood difficulties. What do you say to that person who says, how could I do that? How could I follow in her footsteps? You know, what I say to them is I'm not special. I want them to absorb that I am not special. I'm just like everyone else. God gave me the gift of intelligence. Being born in the United States gave me the gift of opportunity. My mother particularly gave me the gift of focus and understanding that education was the only inheritance that she can give me. And she also gave me the gift of honesty of like, look, every dollar that you have in your pocket,

you better earn it. You better be honest and work for everything that you have. But many parents and, you know, many children are given similar gifts, but they have other difficult circumstances they're dealing with, because not only was my neighborhood difficult, my whole life, if you were to say dysfunctional, I would say thank you, you've elevated my whole life. I was supposed to be a statistic, I should have been a, you know, dropout young mom, my brother should have been a statistic, we should have been like, drug addicts or something. But that's not the direction that we went in. But it's not because we're special. It really isn't because we're special. I think that we, you know, to a certain extent, a lot of the messaging that we were given, we were able to repel that and to actualize that that didn't have

to be our future. And then we were just really lucky in, you know, having people along the way that have helped us and allowed us to be where we are today. Judge Zaius, what's your final message to voters in Ohio who may be listening to this? You know, courts really, really do matter. They take up everything from, you know, custodial and parenting rights to, you know, who's going to be responsible for damage in a car accident, to, of course, criminal cases and death penalty cases, sentences. You know, a lot of times we ask, like, why is it that one person from one area or from one background, they have a very light sentence and another person has a very harsh sentence. And these are things that impact not

only that individual, but impact their families and impact their communities. So the courts, whether you step into a court or not, the decisions that are being made there impact you. The policy decisions that are being made there impact you. The Ohio Supreme Court and the Supreme Courts of all the states, they sit above all of the courts of that state. So not only when they make a decision on a case, does that become the law of the state, but if they make a decision on the direction of policies and procedures of courts, that becomes the policy and procedure for all the courts of their state. If you want to make changes, if you want a more just system, if you want to know that when you come into any court that you have a fair chance, the most impactful change is from the top down current composition of the Ohio Supreme Court is it's four three with four Republicans, the chief justice being one of the four there, three Democrats.

There are two Republican seats that are up one based on the age limitations that in Ohio, the chief justice seat is an open seat. The other is the seat with Judge DeWine, who Judge Zaius is running against. The chief justice has been a little bit of a swing vote going back and forth on areas that would be very supportive of some of the pro-democracy messaging that Midas Touch has here. And so this election is a critical election for our democracy, for election fairness, for all of the topics that we care about here on Midas Touch. And we thank you so much, Judge Zayas, for joining us on the podcast. Thank you so much. It's been a great honor. We will be right back after these messages.

And there you have it, a very special edition of The Mighty. I want to thank Judge Zayas again for her time and for sharing her inspiring story with you, The Midas Mighty. I want to thank Judge Zayas again for her time and for sharing her inspiring story with you, The Midas Mighty. Make sure to subscribe now to the Midas Touch YouTube channel, subscribe to the Midas Touch podcast, and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

As always, new episodes of the traditional Midas Touch Brother podcast are released every Tuesday and Friday morning at 5 a.m. Eastern, 2 a.m. Pacific time. And the rest of the week, you can enjoy these bite-sized episodes that we call The Mighty. Make sure to head over right now to store.midastouch.com. We've got some incredible new merch that is selling out quickly, including the new fan favorite Rovember line, the row, row, row your vote shirt,

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