Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Eileen A. Gallagher

Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Eileen A. Gallagher

Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Eileen A. Gallagher served as a visiting judge on the Ohio Supreme Court today and heard oral arguments in a case of whether a 19-year-old man convicted for failing to register as a sex offender had his constitutional rights violated because the reporting requirement was based on a juvenile offense.

Judge Gallagher replaced Justice Patrick F. Fischer, who recused himself from State v. Buttery, Case no. 2018-0183. The case was accepted from the First District Court of Appeals in Hamilton County.

“It’s a beautiful Courtroom. It was an honor and privilege to be here,” Judge Gallagher said.

According to the Ohio Constitution, in the event of a recusal by a justice, the chief justice can select any of the 69 sitting Ohio appellate court judges to sit temporarily on the Supreme Court.

Judge Gallagher is a native of Cleveland, who received her bachelor of arts degree from Ohio Dominican College in Columbus. She earned her law degree from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law and began her career as a probation officer in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. She was a lawyer in private practice when she was elected a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge in 1996, and was twice re-elected. In 2010, she was first elected to the Eighth District Court of appeals and reelected in 2016.