07222003 - News Article - Deputy Burke gets reassigned to court - Some suspect the move may have been result of his comments on judge

Also See:

09242017 - News Article Links - Disparity of justice: Comparison of Magistrate James Johnson's and Judge Joan Kouros' judicial investigations - Backlog of court cases

Deputy Burke gets reassigned to court 
Some suspect the move may have been result of his comments on judge
Post-Tribune
July 22, 2003
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/resources/doc/nb/news/0FF62EA672795BCC?p=AWNB
An outspoken, respected veteran deputy prosecutor in the Lake County prosecutor's office has been reassigned to a new courtroom in the Lake County Government Center.

It is unknown if John Burke's reassignment is punishment for remarks he made against Lake Superior Court Judge Joan Kouros.

Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter could not be reached for comment Monday. Carter made the move late last month, according to those in his office.

Kouros was removed from the bench in late June by the Indiana Supreme Court because she failed to deal with a case backlog in her courtroom.

She has 90 days to appeal to the Supreme Court to get her job back.

In recent interviews with the Post-Tribune, Burke, who has been with the prosecutor's office for some 30 years, made some pointed remarks about Kouros and her ability to be a judge.

Burke has said that the job of being a judge was "too big" and "overwhelms" Kouros, and supported her removal.

Some sources in Lake Superior Court says Burke says things that other deputy prosecutors wouldn't dare say about Kouros.

Kouros had become known as being tough -- maybe even rude -- to some deputy prosecutors who practiced before her.

Some speculate that Burke may have been assigned to Kouros' courtroom two years ago as a way to "straighten her out" in ways younger and less experienced deputy prosecutor's could not.

In an story printed July 6 in the Post-Tribune, Burke contended that Kouros was unfair to him in rulings against him in certain cases.

"A number of times I had the feeling in (Kouros') courtroom, I was not playing on a level playing field," Burke, a Chesterton resident, said.

Tensions between Burke and Kouros had also increased in recent months. Kouros found Burke in contempt of court in one case, and unprofessional in conduct in another.

The contempt claim was eventually dismissed without reason against Burke by Kouros about a month later.

Burke declined comment Monday on his removal from Courtroom 3 where Kouros presided. He will now hear cases in Courtroom 1 of Judge Salvador Vasquez.

Burke will continue to handle about 10 cases in Courtroom 3, namely the case of suspected serial killer Eugene Britt.

07042003 - News Article - High court should declare vacancy in Lake judiciary - Our opinion: Kouros' removal should be permanent, search for new judge should get under way

Also See:

09242017 - News Article Links - Disparity of justice: Comparison of Magistrate James Johnson's and Judge Joan Kouros' judicial investigations - Backlog of court cases

High court should declare vacancy in Lake judiciary 
Our opinion: Kouros' removal should be permanent, search for new judge should get under way
Post-Tribune (IN)
July 4, 2003
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/resources/doc/nb/news/0FF62E8A84348C07?p=AWNB
Several weeks ago we called for Lake Superior Court, Criminal Division, Judge Joan Kouros to resign from the bench.

Short of that, we said the Indiana Supreme Court should remove her for failing to get her court in order after two warnings from the high court.

The Supreme Court acted last week, but it stopped short of doing exactly what it should have done.

The court removed Kouros from the bench but said that she could petition for reinstatement after 90 days.

The Supreme Court said at the time that it could do a review after three months to see if things have improved.

With Kouros not on the job, there is no way to do a further review of her operation. Besides, the court already gave her two chances and all that resulted was the status quo.

Kouros' problem was that she tried to micro-manage an extremely large caseload.

That resulted in a host of mistakes, including people being bonded out who should have stayed in jail, people being kept in jail longer than they should have, and failing to have arrest warrants executed.

With Kouros off the bench, the Supreme Court named former Porter Circuit Court Judge Raymond Kickbush the judge pro tem, at least through the 90-day period.

The high court also suggested that it could appoint Kickbush to serve the remainder of Kouros' term, which runs through 2006.

We don't know that Kickbush, who retired in Porter County to go on senior (semi-retired) status, would want to stay on through the end of Kouros' term.

While Kickbush is a fine jurist and would be a more than capable replacement for Kouros, it would be wrong for the Supreme Court to name him a permanent pro tem.

The Lake County courts need judges who reside in Lake County. County residents have a pretty good feel for the social structure that produces criminals.

What the Supreme Court should have done was make Kouros' removal final and declare that a vacancy existed in the Lake Superior Court system.

Without the court declaring a vacancy, the Lake County Judicial Nominating Commission cannot be convened to interview applicants for the judgeship.

When the 90 days expires, we would encourage the Supreme Court to declare a vacancy.

The sooner a Lake County judge is on the bench, the better for the people of Lake County -- both the residents and the defendants.

07012003 - News Article - Judge has quiet last day and uncertain future - Joan Kouros replaced with temporary judge by state Supreme Court

Also See:

09242017 - News Article Links - Disparity of justice: Comparison of Magistrate James Johnson's and Judge Joan Kouros' judicial investigations - Backlog of court cases

Judge has quiet last day and uncertain future
Joan Kouros replaced with temporary judge by state Supreme Court
NWI Times
Jul 1, 2003
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/judge-has-quiet-last-day-and-uncertain-future/article_95645d2d-e3eb-57a6-b827-c1a990c4b96f.html
The Indiana Supreme Court is sailing into largely uncharted waters with its decision to remove Lake Criminal Court Judge Joan Kouros from the bench and replace her with a temporary judge.

"This rule is rarely invoked," said Supreme Court spokesman David Remondini. "We're treading on relatively unplowed ground here."

Kouros' last day as an active jurist passed Monday morning with no activity in her courtroom, which stood empty. All 11 cases scheduled for hearings were canceled.

The judge was in her chambers Monday, according to her secretary, but didn't return calls for comment.

Kevin McGoff, her attorney, said Monday he is unclear what she will do next. "Joan and I have not sat down to explore our options.

"She wants to be cooperative with Judge Kickbush and make sure there is a smooth transition for the short term and continue to be cooperative with the Supreme Court so she can serve the citizens," he said.

The high court appointed Senior Judge Raymond Kickbush to act in Kouros' behalf for at least the next 90 days.

Other judges have been removed from the bench in Indiana history, but usually, that is the final act in their careers.

The high court's removal order for Kouros allows her to petition for reinstatement within 90 days, but she must prove she is again fit to be a judge.

Court observers have openly questioned how Kouros can prove she can do the job without being on the bench, but the Supreme Court may require Kouros to come up with her own solutions.

"What could happen in the future, I really don't know," Lilia J. Judson, executive director of the Indiana Supreme Court Division of State Court Administration, said Monday.

"It will all depend on whether Judge Kouros can satisfy the (Supreme) Court she is able or willing or has a plan to perform her job in the way the court feels she should do it."

She said the Supreme Court is currently treating Kouros' matter as an administrative problem, but if it persists they could change their view of it to either a medical disability or a disciplinary matter that would guide them to a permanent resolution.

Some say that no matter what Kouros tells the Supreme Court, she will find herself unable to follow through with promises of improvements.

At the heart of the matter is her inability to do the time-consuming, often tedious grind of one of the four judges in the criminal division of the Lake Superior Court, proportionately the busiest criminal court in Indiana.

An admitted perfectionist, Kouros told the high court last month she often labors for hours over one ruling, allowing other cases to pile up and remain unadjudicated for weeks and even months.

"She may be more suited to be a judge in a place like Newton County, where the volume is not so overwhelming," said one court source. "Lake County may just be too much for her." Newton is a rural county that has less than 3 percent of the population of Lake County.

A compromise discussed behind closed doors is the option of allowing Kouros to retire and accept senior judge status, which would allow her to keep her state benefits -- including medical insurance -- by working at least 30 days a year.

Senior status is normally reserved for a retired judge who has served a long and distinguished career, like former Porter Superior Court Judge Raymond Kickbush, who will sit as temporary judge after Kouros leaves the bench today.

The appointment of Kickbush by the state's high court has led some Lake County judges to speculate the absence of Kouros will not be for the remainder of her term, as Kickbush has expressed reluctance to take on long-term assignments following his retirement.

Senior judges often step in during emergency absences or to hear cases in which a sitting judge must step down for reasons of conflict or other problems.

Kickbush has served in all four of Lake County's criminal divisions after the retirements of James Letsinger, James Clement and Richard Maroc.

07012003 - News Article - EDITORIALS - Kouros shouldn't return to bench - The issue: Judge Joan Kouros

Also See:

09242017 - News Article Links - Disparity of justice: Comparison of Magistrate James Johnson's and Judge Joan Kouros' judicial investigations - Backlog of court cases

EDITORIALS - Kouros shouldn't return to bench
The issue: Judge Joan Kouros
NWI Times
Jul 1, 2003
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/kouros-shouldn-t-return-to-bench/article_7c3ee754-7c95-5084-82e8-48a87e84d3ac.html
Our opinion: She had plenty of time and opportunity to run the court properly. It's time for her to go - permanently.

A retired Porter County judge is the temporary replacement for Lake Criminal Court Judge Joan Kouros. She has three months to prove she is cured of her sloppy record-keeping.

Senior Judge Raymond D. Kickbush is filling in for Kouros, beginning today, for at least 90 days and possibly the remaining two and a half years of her term.

She is the first judge in the three decades of Lake County's merit selection system to be forced off the bench by anyone other than the voters.

Kouros first blamed others for her courtroom's trouble with records and only accepted responsibility earlier this month.

The Indiana Supreme Court finally decided that enough is enough and removed her from office. She can petition for reinstatement in three months, but she would have to prove she is capable of running an efficient court.

This isn't just a matter of making clerks happy. This is affecting the administration of justice.

A Supreme Court investigation revealed, in January 2001, a backlog of 330 case files piled up, waiting for her signature on decisions she made months earlier. The delays meant people who should have been freed earlier weren't and people who should have remained in jail were released.

Last October, the backlog had grown again to at least 200 cases. The Supreme Court ordered the backlog to be a maximum of 80 cases, but she violated that twice this spring.

The Supreme Court has given Kouros plenty of time and opportunity to operate the court properly. It's time for her to go - permanently.