Frank D. Celebrezze Jr. (November 13, 1928 – March 21, 2010) was an American politician and jurist of the Ohio

Democratic party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, having served as Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. He was elected as a judge of the Ohio Supreme Court in 1972, defeating Republican

Robert E. Leach Robert E. Leach (December 18, 1911 – November 21, 1993) was a United States Republican Party, Republican judge in the U.S. State of Ohio who sat as Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court in 1978. Biography Robert E. Leach was born December 18, ...

. He was re-elected in 1974, defeating Republican

Sheldon A. Taft Sheldon may refer to: * Sheldon (name), a given name and a surname, and a list of people with the name Places Australia *Sheldon, Queensland *Sheldon Forest, New South Wales United Kingdom *Sheldon, Derbyshire, England *Sheldon, Devon, England * ...

. Celebrezze also was elected to and served in the

Ohio State Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

. In 1978, he was elected as Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, defeating Republican

Thomas M. Herbert Thomas Morgan Herbert (December 1, 1927 – February 23, 2014) was a Republican lawyer from Ohio who was elected twice to the Ohio Supreme Court, succeeding his father in the seat. Background Thomas Herbert was born at Columbus, Ohio on Decemb ...

. Celebrezze was re-elected chief justice in 1980, defeating

Sara J. Harper Sara J. Harper (born August 10, 1926) is a former member of the Eighth District Court of Appeals. Harper is African-American. She was raised in a public housing project in Cleveland, Ohio. Harper got her undergraduate and law degrees from Case We ...

. In 1986, Celebrezze was defeated in a bid for another term as chief justice by

Thomas J. Moyer Thomas Joseph Moyer (April 18, 1939 – April 2, 2010) was an American jurist and the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 1987 to 2010. A member of the Republican Party, he died suddenly on April 2, 2010, at age 70. The Thomas J. Moyer ...

. The race between Celebrezze and Moyer was fierce, with Moyer's campaign accusing Celebrezze of having links to organized crime. That year Celebrezze brought a successful

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

suit against '' The Plain Dealer'' of Cleveland, based on an article that alleged that Celebrezze's campaign had accepted contributions from groups with organized crime connections., 51. In 1994, Celebrezze ran for a seat on the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Eighth District; he lost to common pleas court Judge Terrence O'Donnell. Celebrezze was the son of Cleveland politician

Frank D. Celebrezze I Frank D. Celebrezze I (May 12, 1899 – August 21, 1953) was an Italian-American politician, judge and former public safety director in Cleveland, Ohio. Early life He was born in 1899 to Dorothy (née Marcogiuseppe) and Rocco Cilibrizzi, Itali ...

and the nephew of

Anthony Celebrezze Anthony Joseph Celebrezze Sr. (born Antonio Giuseppe Cilibrizzi, ; September 4, 1910 – October 29, 1998) was an American politician of the Democratic Party, who served as the 49th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, as a cabinet member in the Kennedy an ...

, who served in the cabinets of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson as Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. His first cousin,

Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr. Anthony Joseph "Tony" Celebrezze Jr. (September 8, 1941 – July 4, 2003) was an American politician of the Democratic party, who served as Ohio Attorney General, Ohio Secretary of State and an Ohio State Senator. He was the son of Antho ...

, was an elected official and candidate for Ohio governor. His brother,

James P. Celebrezze James Patrick Celebrezze (February 6, 1938 – February 10, 2021) was an United States of America, American politician and jurist of the Ohio United States Democratic Party, Democratic party, who served as a judge of the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, com ...

, also served on the Ohio Supreme Court.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celebrezze, Frank 1928 births 2010 deaths Ohio state court judges Chief Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court Democratic Party Ohio state senators Celebrezze family 20th-century American judges American people of Italian descent