Biography

Joe Sommer is an attorney who is retired from the Ohio state government after spending 30 years in the public sector. He obtained a B.B.A. from Ohio University and a J.D. from the University of Toledo. He is admitted to the bar in Ohio and California, and for 12 years was certified by the Ohio State Bar Association as a specialist in workers' compensation law.

A former activist for many years with the Humanist Community of Central Ohio, he served on its board and held the offices of president, vice president, and secretary. He is a longtime member of the American Humanist Association, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (currently serving on its national board), and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The American Humanist Association certified him as an Advocate for the Humanist philosophy.

He is a volunteer attorney for the American Humanist Association's Appignani Humanist Legal Center and the Columbus Bar Association's Homelessness Project. He is a board advisor for the Center for Effective Discipline, which works to end corporal punishment of children. He also is a board member for Common Cause Ohio.