10212003 - News Article - Judge admits mental illness - Kouros to undergo therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder, hopes to resume bench

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Judge admits mental illness
Kouros to undergo therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder, hopes to resume bench
NWI Times
Oct 21, 2003
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/judge-admits-mental-illness/article_02c839e0-f506-5c80-a164-03523e5e0de6.html
CROWN POINT -- In response to allegations of incompetence by the Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission, suspended Lake Criminal Court Judge Joan Kouros admitted Monday she suffers from mental illness and is preparing to enter therapy to correct the problem.

The admission, which comes in a response to the 78-count complaint filed by the commission on Sept. 26, also indicates the judge is being treated for multiple sclerosis, which "caused her to ruminate over orders to make sure they were perfect" and added to her courtroom's disarray.

In addition to the physical ailment, the response said, Kouros has been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, which has "caused her to work extreme hours in an effort to check and re-check orders she had issued. This has been the reason for retaining files beyond the court's order and in some cases beyond good administrative practice."

The response was filed late Monday with the clerk of the Indiana Supreme Court.

Kouros was suspended from the bench June 27 after the Indiana Supreme Court found she had "failed to perform the duties of her office without good cause." Retired Porter Superior Court Judge Raymond Kickbush has been filling in for her since then.

Among the allegations are that she failed to process orders in a timely manner, causing delays in the transfer of inmates from the Lake County Jail to the Indiana Department of Correction, denying inmates certain rights as well as adversely affecting operations of the jail.

The allegations also say Kouros unnecessarily kept criminal files in her office instead of returning them to the clerk's office and that "her method of record-keeping left her offices in an apparent state of disorganization."

Attorneys Stanley Jablonski of Merrillville and Kevin McGoff of Indianapolis, who represent Kouros, have denied that her actions in court have resulted in unnecessary or improper delays in the transfer of inmates, and have pointed the finger at other court officers as well as the clerk's office.

But in the response filed Monday, Jablonski admitted Kouros did improperly keep an enormous amount of files in her office, going over them again and again in an attempt to make sure all entries were letter-perfect.

He said this was due to the obsessive-compulsive disorder, which was worsened by the onset of multiple sclerosis several years ago. She began to scrutinize each order to make certain her disease had not caused her to make an error, he said.

Kouros, 43, has been undergoing treatment for her MS. "That is absolutely under control," Jablonski said. "But only recently was she diagnosed with the obsessive-compulsive disorder. Only after her suspension did she seek the advice of a medical doctor, and then only after considerable deliberation with family and friends, myself included."

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, which can be as harmless as touching wood for good luck, can also become debilitating, preventing a victim from performing even the simplest tasks without excessive deliberation and complex rituals.

It can also be successfully treated with medication, and that is the direction Kouros is now taking, Jablonski said.

"Judge Kouros' doctors are conferring on a course of pharmaceutical therapy with care not to administer multiple drugs that are incompatible," he wrote in his response. "This will address the obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Kouros was unwilling until Monday to publicly admit that she has a problem, preferring to blame others for the apparent non-compliance with the January Supreme Court order to clean up the mess in her courtroom.

"Her non-compliance is not because of what may appear to be arrogance or callous disregard," Jablonski wrote in his response. "Through a long period of introspection, self-examination and reflection, Judge Kouros has decided to make public and aggressively pursue the only viable remedy that will forever address and resolve the issues raised in the complaint."

Jablonski said it is his hope that by finally admitting the problem and taking steps to resolve it, Kouros will be given a final opportunity to resume the bench.

"I have no timetable for this and it would be foolish to commit to one now," Jablonski said. "We're not concerned with pushing a date, we just want an opportunity to prove her worthiness for one last chance."

Jablonski said Kouros knows that any chance she is given will be her last, but he said she has received little support from her fellow judges in the Lake Superior Court.

"With one exception, the other judges have been more concerned with protecting their own rice bowl than with helping her," he said, declining to name the one judge. "While she has borne this harsh criticism, she has to this point remained silent about her medical conditions."