Cuyahoga County voters who often confront unknown names on the judicial portion of their ballots are fortunate to live in a county where lawyers have banded together in an intensive judicial ratings coalition. Judge4Yourself is one of the few such in the country. The process hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been an important brake against the local “name game” where Russos, Hagans, Gallaghers, Corrigans, etc., seem to have an edge, no matter what their qualifications.
In recent years, however, local judicial candidates of color had challenged a ratings process they saw as insular and inherently biased. Our editorial board, likewise, raised concerns about transparency and fairness.
Admirably, Judge4Yourself listened, worked for the past year to systematically re-evaluate its process -- and then reformed it. The volunteer coalition has added far more internal brakes on possible bias, more transparency with candidates, and a fifth local bar, the Asian American Bar Association of Ohio, to the four bar associations involved in most of the recent years. The four others are the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, the Cuyahoga Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Ohio Women’s Bar Association and the Norman S. Minor Bar Association representing many local African-American lawyers.
The results look promising, which is why it’s troubling that two of the four judicial candidates competing in contested Cleveland races in the Nov. 5 election -- W. Mona Scott, contending for Housing Court judge, and Joseph Russo, seeking the Cleveland Municipal Court seat currently held by Judge Marilyn B. Cassidy -- elected not to participate this year in the Judge4Yourself rating process.
Scott also did not take part in the cleveland.com/Plain Dealer endorsement process and, as of Friday, had not submitted biographical information to the Judicial Votes Count website started by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor, with co-sponsorship from other good-government groups and hosted by the University of Akron, to increase voters’ knowledge about judicial candidates statewide.
Russo told our editorial board he did not think the Judge4Yourself process was fair or accurate. When reminded the process had been revamped, he said he wanted to give it another year.
However, we applaud Judge4Yourself for positive results that are already apparent, including in a more careful, inclusive process. We would have liked to see more transparency, but given the sensitive nature of some of the Judge4Yourself inquiries, and also how dependent practicing lawyers are on the good will of judges, we understand some of the constraints on the full transparency we would have liked to see.
Not only did Judge4Yourself adopt comprehensive reforms, but it did so through a time-consuming process -- without a cent of compensation for the lawyers involved who usually charge by increments of an hour.
To consult Judge4Yourself ratings on contested Cuyahoga County judicial races, go to www.judge4yourself.com/judicial-candidate-ratings/
Judicial Votes Count information covering judicial races in every county in Ohio can be found at https://blogs.uakron.edu/judicialvotescount/
For judicial endorsements by the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer or to listen to audio of endorsement interviews, consult this year’s endorsement roundup for links.
Early, in-person voting in the Nov. 5 election runs through this weekend and ends at 2 p.m. Monday. On Tuesday, polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. statewide.
About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization.
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