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Gregory Frost
Gregory L. Frost is a former federal judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. He joined the court in 2003 after being nominated by President George W. Bush. Judge Frost retired from the bench on May 2, 2016.[1]
Education
An Ohio native, Frost received his bachelor's degree from Wittenberg University in 1971, and his J.D. from Ohio Northern University Law School in 1974.[1]
Professional career
Frost started his legal career as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Licking County Prosecuting Attorney's Office from 1974 to 1978. From 1978 until 1983, Frost worked a partner in the law firm of Schaller, Frost, Hostetter & Campbell. While there, Frost specialized in personal injury lawsuits, domestic relations matters and small business issues.[2] In 1983, Frost began his judicial career when the people of Licking County elected him as judge of the county's municipal court. He then transitioned to the Licking County Court of Common Pleas. He remained in that post until he was elevated to the federal bench.[1]
Judicial nominations and appointments
Southern District of Ohio
On the recommendation of Senators Mike DeWine and George Vonovich, Frost was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 7, 2003, to a seat vacated by George Smith. Frost was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on a senate vote on March 10, 2003, and received his commission on March 11, 2003. Judge Frost retired from the bench on May 2, 2016.[1]
Noteworthy cases
Execution ban extended in Ohio (2014)
On August 11, 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost issued a ruling extending the judicial ban on executions in the state of Ohio. Judge Frost wrote that additional time was necessary for proper execution procedures to be put into place. Judge Frost ordered that the stays of execution for death row inmates be lifted on August 15, 2014, but only after Ohio lawmakers adopted a new protocol for executions.[3] On May 31, 2014, Judge Frost ordered stays of execution in the cases of Ronald Phillips and William Montgomery following a drug-related mishap that occurred during the execution of Dennis McGuire in January 2014.[3] The state used a new, untested combination of drugs to execute McGuire, which took 25 minutes. At least 15 of those minutes included McGuire gasping for breath. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said it would use the same drug cocktail in future executions but in larger doses to avoid similar errors. Judge Frost then issued the moratorium on lethal injections, as there was no indication that greater doses of the same drug would result in “a more merciful death.” He further referred to the use of the unreliable drug cocktail in executions as cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.[3]
Judge Frost’s first ban from May 2014 was to expire on August 15, 2014; the extension was until January 15, 2015.
Articles:
Ohio execution delay (2009)
- See also: United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Richard Cooey, et al., v. Ted Strickland, et al., 2:04-cv-01156-GLF-MRA)
- See also: United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Richard Cooey, et al., v. Ted Strickland, et al., 2:04-cv-01156-GLF-MRA)
Judge Frost delayed an execution scheduled by the Ohio Department of Corrections in December of 2009. Judge Frost indefinitely delayed the execution of Kenneth Biros, a convicted rapist, as the judge asked the Ohio Department of Corrections to review its execution protocol using the lethal injection method. This was the fourth execution in Ohio to be put on hold since September 15, 2009, when a scheduled execution of Romell Broom failed.[4]
On December 7, 2009, the Sixth Circuit ruled that there was not enough evidence for Biros to claim that Ohio's new backup execution method violated the Constitution of the United States. Biros was executed the next day.[5]
Inmate gets stay order after botched execution attempt (2009)
- See also: United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Romell Broom, v. Ted Strickland, et al., 2:09-cv-00823-GLF-MRA)
- See also: United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Romell Broom, v. Ted Strickland, et al., 2:09-cv-00823-GLF-MRA)
Romell Broom, a prisoner facing execution via lethal injection for raping and murdering a fourteen-year-old girl, had his execution stayed by Judge Frost on September 18, 2009. Judge Frost temporarily stayed the execution after the Ohio Department of Corrections officials who conducted the attempted execution failed to maintain an IV connection in order to perform the lethal injection on Broom. The Ohio Supreme Court was responsible for scheduling a new execution date.
Columbus, Ohio police sick leave case (2009)
On July 15, 2009, Judge Frost struck down a Columbus Police Department sick-leave policy that required disclosure of medical information on doctor's notes. A number of former dispatchers sued the city in 2007, claiming that they were reprimanded by the city of Columbus if they did not provide a doctor's note when ill. The former employees claimed that their privacy was compromised as the Columbus Police Department required the "nature of illness" to be disclosed in the note. This requirement, according to the affidavit filed, prevented employees from submitting doctor's notes when documenting an absence. In October 2008, Judge Frost ordered a temporary injunction against Columbus, preventing it from enforcing the policy. His later ruling permanently prohibited the city of Columbus from enforcing the sick leave policy.[6]
Judge Frost found that "the Columbus Police Department allowed unwarranted intrusion into personal medical records," and in his opinion, wrote that, "Determining staffing or the ability to dispatch police does not involve ascertaining whether an employee has genital warts, to cite one obvious if unseemly hypothetical example."[6]
See also
- News: Ohio will temporarily stop executions, July 19, 2011
External links
- Southern District of Ohio, "Biographical Sketch: Judge Gregory L. Frost"
- Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Gregory L. Frost"
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 'Federal Judicial Center, "Biographical directory of federal judges," accessed May 3, 2016
- ↑ Southern District of Ohio, "Biographical Sketch: Judge Gregory L. Frost," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Liberty Voice, "Lethal Injection Suspended by Ohio Federal Judge Stirs Controversy," May 31, 2014
- ↑ New York Times, "Judge delays another Ohio execution," October 19, 2009
- ↑ USA Today, "Judge: Ohio inmate's execution appeal has limits," December 9, 2009
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Columbus Dispatch, "Federal judge shoots down police sick-leave policy," July 16, 2009
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by: George Smith |
Southern District of Ohio 2003–2016 Seat #2T |
Succeeded by: Sarah Daggett Morrison
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| 2006 |
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| 2008 |
Agee • Anello • Arguello • Brimmer • Gardephe • Goldberg • Jones • Kethledge • Lawrence • Matsumoto • Melgren • Murphy • Scriven • Seibel • Slomsky • Trenga • Waddoups • White | ||
Federal courts:
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio
State courts:
Ohio Supreme Court • Ohio District Courts of Appeal • Ohio Courts of Common Pleas • Ohio County Courts • Ohio Municipal Courts • Ohio Court of Claims
State resources:
Courts in Ohio • Ohio judicial elections • Judicial selection in Ohio
