Amy Salerno (born October 17, 1956) is a former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

from 1995 through 2002. Her district consisted of a portion of

Franklin County, Ohio Franklin County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,323,807, making it the most populous county in Ohio. Most of its land area is taken up by its county seat, Columbus, the state capital and most ...

. She was succeeded by Dan Stewart. Salerno was a judge in the Franklin County Municipal Court in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

from 2005 until she was defeated for re-election by a wide margin by Jessica D’Varga on November 5, 2019.

Life and career

Salerno grew up in Boardman Township near

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

, and graduated from

Boardman High School Boardman High School is a high school in Boardman Township, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Boardman Local School District. Athletic teams compete as the Boardman Spartans in the Ohio High School Athletic Association as a ...

. She graduated with a BA from

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges an ...

in 1979 and a JD from the

Moritz College of Law The Michael E. Moritz College of Law is the professional graduate law school of the Ohio State University, a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1891, the school is located in Drinko Hall on the main campus of the ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1982. Salerno's political career began in 1993, when she was recruited by the Franklin County Republican Party to run for an at-large seat on the

Columbus City Council The Columbus City Council is the lawmaking body of Columbus, Ohio. It has 7 members who are elected at-large. It meets in the City Council Chambers located on the second floor of Columbus City Hall. Starting in the 2023 election, City Council w ...

. She narrowly lost that race. The next year, she successfully unseated 22-year Democratic incumbent

Mike Stinziano Michael Stinziano is an American politician who served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives for the 23rd district from 1973 to 1994. His son, Michael Stinziano Michael Stinziano Jr. (born November 23, 1979) is an American politici ...

to represent the 23rd District in the Ohio House of Representatives. In the House, Salerno sponsored a bill establishing the crime of

homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

, with the same statutory penalty as murder. This was inspired by the 1996 killing of 3-year-old P.J. Bourgeois. His parents were charged with

involuntary manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th c ...

instead of murder and each spent less than four years in prison after early

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

. The bill was signed into law by Governor

Bob Taft Robert Alphonso Taft III (born January 8, 1942) is an American politician and attorney, who served as the 67th governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007 as a member of the Republican Party. A member of the Taft political dynasty, Taft served first i ...

and served as a model for similar legislation around the US. Salerno appeared on the October 25, 2000 episode of ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

'' to discuss the Bourgeois case and her proposed legislation. Salerno left the House in 2002 because she was

term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of Term of office, terms an Incumbent, officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and semi-presidential system ...

. After she lost the election for Franklin County

clerk of courts A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court, administer oaths to witn ...

, Governor Taft appointed her to the Franklin County Municipal Court. During Salerno's tenure, she was ranked as the worst judge in the Columbus

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

survey in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013.

Controversies

Antonio Henton

She was accused of "grandstanding" by the ''

Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 1 ...

'' for lecturing Ohio State

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player Antonio Henton during his 2007

arraignment Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisd ...

for

solicitation Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...

Jury scolding

In August 2013, following a "not guilty" verdict after an assault trial in her courtroom, Salerno lectured the jury for delivering what she thought was the incorrect verdict, and is reported to have said that she would be able to convict the defendant because he had another criminal case pending in her courtroom. After jurors complained, Administrative Judge James E. Green asked Salerno to

recuse Judicial disqualification, also referred to as recusal, is the act of abstaining from participation in an official action such as a legal proceeding due to a conflict of interest of the presiding court official or administrative officer. Applica ...

herself from the other case involving the defendant and said that she may face disciplinary action. On March 11, 2015, the

Supreme Court of Ohio The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

approved a consent-to-discipline agreement between Salerno and the Ohio State Bar Association. As part of the settlement, all parties agreed that Salerno violated Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct Rule 1.2, which requires a judge to respect and comply with the law and to act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and Rule 2.8(c) which prohibits a judge from commending or criticizing jurors for their verdict other than in a court order or opinion in a proceeding. The court publicly reprimanded Salerno for the violations and ordered her to pay all costs related to the investigation.

Personal life

Amy Salerno has two daughters. She is a stage two breast cancer survivor.

References

External links

Profile on the Ohio Ladies' Gallery website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salerno, Amy 1956 births Living people Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio State University Moritz College of Law alumni Municipal judges in the United States Ohio state court judges People from Boardman, Ohio Women state legislators in Ohio Youngstown State University alumni 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges