01072004 - News Article - Judge Kouros back on bench - She had been suspended from Lake Criminal Court for poor management

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

Judge Kouros back on bench
She had been suspended from Lake Criminal Court for poor management
NWI Times
Jan 7, 2004
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/judge-kouros-back-on-bench/article_89d31ad1-1b88-5745-baaf-53ca217150c8.html
CROWN POINT -- Monday morning marked the return to the bench of suspended Judge Joan Kouros in Courtroom No. 3 at Lake Criminal Court.

Kouros and her attorney, Stanley Jablonski, convinced the Indiana Supreme Court to reinstate her by saying she is getting help for her obsessive-compulsive disorder, which was aggravated by the onset of multiple sclerosis.

The disorder "caused her to ruminate over orders to make sure they were perfect" and added to her courtroom's disarray, according to a response filed by Kouros and Jablonski to the Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission.

The commission, an arm of the Indiana Supreme Court responsible for policing judicial officials, charged Kouros in September 2002 with judicial misconduct.

Former Gov. Evan Bayh appointed Kouros to the bench in 1997. She began having trouble three years later when in 2000 the Lake County Bar Association campaigned for her removal because of her inability to finish a case in a timely manner.

The Supreme Court's staff investigated and reported in January 2001 they found a backlog of hundreds of case files piled in her judicial chambers awaiting her signature on decisions she made months earlier. She refused to release any paperwork until she corrected even minor punctuation errors.

The high court ordered her to amend her ways, but by June 2003, the justices concluded she had refused help from others until faced with an ultimatum and removed her June 27, 2003.

Kouros initially blamed her troubles on others, including the clerk's office, prosecutors, defense lawyers and her own staff.

The Supreme Court ordered her reinstated Dec. 12 stating Kouros has conferred with nine other judges to learn how to operate a busy urban court. She also has attended case management seminars in San Diego and Maine since last summer.

They ruled she now appears to have control over the obsessive-compulsive disorder that affected her judicial performance and has given assurances she will administer her court better in the future.

The order reminds Kouros the justices will continue to watch her progress.