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Jennifer Branch

Office: For Judge of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, General Division
Term Beginning 2/9/2021


Age: 58

Residence: Amberley Village

Email: JBranchForJudge@gmail.com

Website: branchforjudge.com/

Social Media: www.facebook.com/JBranchForJudge/
Twitter: @BranchForJudge

Occupation: Attorney

Education: Case Western Reserve University School of Law JD May 1987 Cum Laude; New York University BA May 1984 with Honors in Politics

Work Experience: Gerhardstein & Branch Co LPA; Legal Aid Society of Cincinnati staff attorney and senior attorney (1987-1996). For 32 years I have been a trial lawyer representing the poor, victims of civil rights abuses, and people who have been discriminated against on the basis of race, gender, LGBT status and disabilities.

Family: I am married and have stepchildren and several grandchildren. I have one sister.

Affiliations: I am on the Board of the Children’s Law Center and a member of the Cincinnati Chapter NAACP, ACLU, Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus, Ohio Association for Justice, Cincinnati Bar Association, and Ohio State Bar Association. I am Jewish and a member of Wise Temple.

Endorsements: 

  • 1889 Friends of the Sentinels
  • Bold New Democracy 
  • Senator Sherrod Brown
  • Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council 
  • Cincinnati Federation of Teachers 
  • Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus PAC 
  • Equality PAC Cincinnati 
  • Gr. Cincinnati Building & Construction Trades Council   
  • Gr. Cincinnati UAW CAP Council 
  • Hamilton County Democratic Party
  • IBEW Voluntary Fund
  • NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio PAC 
  • National Association of Social Workers Ohio Chapter 
  • P.G. Sittenfeld
  • Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio 
  • Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 392 P.A.C.
  • United Food and Commercial Workers Local 75

Bar Association Ratings: The Cincinnati Bar Association does not publish ratings.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)I have not served as a judge but I have litigated cases in state and federal courts in Ohio for 32 years.

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
I have litigated cases for 32 years in Hamilton County Ohio in municipal court, common pleas court, and the first district court of appeals. I have also represented clients in other Ohio courts, including the Ohio Supreme Court. I have tried cases in federal courts, including the Southern District of Ohio, and represented clients on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. As a litigator who brings civil rights cases for people who have been discriminated against based on race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation and disability, I am committed to being an impartial judge. As a lawyer who has tried cases for a gay schoolteacher, a transgender police officer, inmates, employees who have been discriminated against, and people injured by the police, I am committed to treating all people who appear in court with respect.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
After 32 years of trying to seek justice for my clients I would like to do justice for those who appear in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. This court is where serious criminal cases are heard, complex civil cases are brought, and the need for justice is great. At the end of every trial someone loses. I want lawyers, parties, and victims to walk away from that courtroom feeling that even though they did not win, at least the process, the judge, and the jury were fair.

I have decades of courtroom experience fighting for the underdog. I chose a career first in poverty law and then civil rights law, because I saw people being treated unjustly – sometimes just because they were poor, Black, female, or inmates. I have sought justice for employees discriminated against at work because they were Black, women, gay, transgender, or disabled. I have seen arrestees beaten by prison guards, shot or tased by police, and falsely arrested. I have seen public employees – a teacher, a cop, a librarian – have their jobs threatened because they were gay or lesbian or transgender. And even though I have sued police officers I have also represented police officers and fire-fighters who were racially discriminated against or retaliated against at work.

I have sought Justice for my clients but now it is time for me to do Justice. I will be an impartial judge because I have had to litigate cases before biased judges. I will ensure trials are fair because I have seen clients pre-judged because of their poverty, race, gender, disability, LGBT status, and their history of being arrested or convicted of a crime. I will make sure the truth matters in my courtroom because I have seen injustice prevail when the truth is not exposed.