Constance A. Gadell Newton

Gadell-Newton was born in Belleville, Illinois.  Raised by a nurse (mother) and teacher (step-father), she experienced poverty as a child. Gadell-Newton attended Bishop Watterson, a private high school in Columbus, Ohio, which prepared her to graduate with honors from the Ohio State University with her B.A. in Philosophy and Women's Studies in 2002. She studied Criminal Law at Pennsylvania State University and earned her J.D. from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law in 2008. She was admitted to the Ohio Bar in October, 2009 and currently practices criminal defense and juvenile law as managing partner of the Fitrakis & Gadell-Newton LLC law firm in Columbus.

Gadell-Newton started her experience in criminal law in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague, Netherlands, prosecuting war criminals.

She has also worked at the Franklin County Public Defender, Juvenile Unit, the Franklin County Municipal Court, law clerk, and Philadelphia Legal Assistance. Her career has had a focus on low-income, minority, women, and LGBT clients.

Currently, Gadell-Newton is an Attorney and Guardian ad Litem in private practice in the Franklin County Courts. She protects the rights of parents and children in Abuse/Neglect/Dependency Cases including the fundamental right to parent afforded to the people by the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. She protects the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions in her Adult and Juvenile Misdemeanor and Felony cases. Constance works as a Guardian and Attorney for teenage victims of human trafficking in the Juvenile system.

• Member since 2013
• Secretary, 2016-2017

• The Attorney General Complaint that resulted in the re-organization of Antioch College.
• A similar Attorney General Complaint for Wilberforce University.
• Assistance to PASS activists to expose fraud and corruption in the NCLB tutoring program in Columbus City Schools.
• Occupy Columbus permitting.
• Bank Tour Protest. Representation of activists charged with criminal trespass, a case which went to trial.
• General Counsel for the Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment and Ohio Rights Group.
• Advocacy on behalf of prisoners facing Supermax solitary confinement.
• Representation of Appalachia Resist! activist Madeline Ffitch, who was charged with a fifth degree felony for protesting the dumping of toxic waste into an injection well near her home.
• Representation of nine Earth First! activists at their arraignment and bond hearing on charges of criminal trespass in Washington County, Ohio for protesting the Green Hunter waste treatment facility.
• Authored the complaint to put Cynthia McKinney on the Ohio ballot for President of the United States.

Connie Gadell-Newton also takes on many cases in general areas of the law, including Bankruptcy, Criminal Misdemeanors and Felonies, OVI and Traffic cases, Domestic Relations, and Landlord-Tenant cases.

In 2016, Gadell-Newton was the Green Party’s candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives District 18, which includes The Ohio State University’s campus, the Short North, and Downtown, among other areas. Gadell-Newton ran against Democratic incumbent Kristin Boggs and Republican David Todd, finishing with 6.9% (3,857 votes) of the total vote count.

Gadell-Newton was elected to the Ohio Green Party Central Committee in 2016 and serves as Co-Chair.

• International Socialist Organization - Columbus endorsed Connie Gadell-Newton for State Representative for Ohio House District 18. ISO - Columbus endorsed Gadell-Newton's campaign for office because of her involvement in the community, her stance on Black Lives Matter and workers’ rights, and her decision to run for office in a solidly blue district.

Gadell-Newton is an avid cyclist and trapeze performer. Those activities support her efforts to live a healthy lifestyle which also includes her vegetarianism and urban gardening. Constance is a lifelong supporter of the arts, regularly attending art shows and music performances. She plays both acoustic and electric guitar, and is fluent in French.

She currently resides with her domestic partner in Columbus’ historic Olde Towne East neighborhood.