Cleveland Municipal Judge Angela Stokes needs to surrender her gavel: editorial

According to Cleveland Municipal Judge Angela Stokes’ recent written statement, Administrative Judge Ronald Adrine’s  decision to remove her from hearing criminal cases beginning this week is “warrantless.”

On the contrary, it’s clear that Adrine’s decision is very much warranted in view of continual allegations that Stokes abuses court staff, lawyers and defendants.

She should step down immediately.

Questions have been raised for years about Stokes’ courtroom behavior. In October, the Ohio Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel charged that she mistreats people in her courtroom. The Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline has yet to act on that finding, but considering Adrine’s decision, the slow-as-molasses board must act quickly if Stokes refuses to step down.

 Adrine did the right thing — the only thing he could do — by removing Stokes from hearing criminal cases. She will be assigned much rarer civil cases, although it would be  understandable if some lawyers balked even at that.

Adrine said in his motion — he would not comment further because Stokes’ case is before the disciplinary board — that he removed her from hearing criminal cases because he continues to receive complaints about her behavior.

His decision followed a motion by the Cuyahoga County Public Defender’s Office that the court transfer criminal cases from her courtroom and refrain from assigning any more such cases to her docket.

Stokes' denies all of the charges, saying she will “resort to the court judicial system” and pointing out that the board rejected a request from the disciplinary counsel that she undergo a psychiatric examination.

However, that decision hardly puts her in the clear, since complaints about her actions keep multiplying.

This growing controversy calls into question the quality of justice in the Municipal Court and undermines Stokes’ good family’s name.

Stokes, the daughter of former Congressman Louis Stokes, a highly respected member of this community, and the niece of the late Carl Stokes, the first black mayor of a major American city, stood out at the ballot box.

But the barrage of complaints has proven — once again — that a respected family name is no guarantee of a quality public servant.

Do the right thing, Judge Stokes. Step down.

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Cleveland Municipal Judge Angela Stokes needs to surrender her gavel: editorial 

See Also:
Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Angela Stokes barred from hearing criminal cases 

Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Angela Stokes says she will defend against court complaint recommending she undergo psych exam