Alice Robie Resnick

Justice Alice Robie Resnick was the fourth woman elected to statewide office in Ohio and the second woman elected to the Supreme Court of Ohio. She was first elected to the Supreme Court in 1988 and was re-elected in 1994 and 2000.

Having grown up in Toledo, Ohio, Justice Resnick received her high school diploma from the Notre Dame Academy in 1957. She is a 1961 graduate of Siena Heights College in Adrian, Mich., where she majored in history. She later received her juris doctorate from the University of Detroit, College of Law in 1964.

Justice Resnick was admitted to the bar in Ohio in 1964 and to the bar of Michigan in 1965. From 1964 to 1975, she was in private practice and in December 1964, she was appointed an assistant Lucas County prosecutor. A formidable trial attorney, Justice Resnick tried about 150 felony cases, including 10 death penalty cases. In 1970, she was admitted to practice and appeared before the United States Supreme Court, arguing on an issue regarding the constitutionality of the death penalty in Ohio.

Her judicial career started in 1975 when she was elected judge of the Toledo Municipal Court. In 1981, she was elected the presiding administrative judge of the same court and also was re-elected to her judicial position without opposition.

In 1982, she was elected a judge of the 6^th District Court of Appeals in Ohio and was re-elected in 1986. Two years later, in 1988, she was elected presiding judge.

Justice Resnick was the founder and co-chair of the Ohio State Bar Association/Supreme Court of Ohio Joint Task Force on Gender Fairness. This task force addressed issues such as gender bias in the courts; lawyer and workplace life styles; gender bias education; and gender issues in domestic relations cases. A final report was issued in May 1995. From 1998 to 2001, Justice Resnick chaired the Ohio Women’s Legal Assistance and Education Coalition, which aided women in Ohio in the exercise of their legal rights.

Throughout her career, she received numerous awards for her judicial work, contribution to the legal profession and civic involvement. Among her awards were: the 1987 Sister Ann Joachim Award for Outstanding Civic Involvement, Siena Heights College; Woman of the Year Award in 1990 from the American Association of University Women, Columbus branch; 1995 Nettie Cronise Lutes Award from the Ohio State bar Association, Section on Women in the Profession; 1995 Alumni of the Year, University of Detroit, College of Law; 1995 inductee into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame; Making a Difference Award in 1996 from the National Association of Women Judges District 7; 1998 Distinguished Lawyer Award from the University of Toledo College of Law Alumni Association; and the 1999 Women of Toledo Award from St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center.

She also received honorary doctor of laws degrees from Heidelberg College in 1999 and from the University of Akron in 1994. Additionally, in 1998, Justice Resnick was honored in a tribute presented on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, an event that was recorded in the Congressional Record on April 29, 1998.

Justice Resnick was born in 1939 in Erie, Pennsylvania. She resides in Toledo with her husband, retired Judge Melvin L. Resnick, who formerly sat on the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas and the Ohio 6^th District Court of Appeals. She has three step-children, six step-grandchildren, and four dogs, two of which are rescued greyhounds.