Also See:
Commission suspends Kouros
State Supreme Court will rule on her permanent removal from bench
Post-Tribune (IN)
July 15, 2004
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/resources/doc/nb/news/104068FAC0BF59F0?p=AWNB
Lake Superior Court Judge Joan Kouros will be removed from the bench, pending a final decision by the state Supreme Court.
Her second suspension with pay will be in response to a brief filed Wednesday by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, which acts as prosecutors in cases of misconduct by attorneys and judges.
The commission's prosecutors recommend that the judge be removed for violating a January 2003 Supreme Court order designed to end the chronic backlog in her court.
The commission filed its brief with the Supreme Court just prior to the deadline under the statute. It had to respond within 30 days of the decision of the panel of master judges, which made no recommendation on whether Kouros should be removed or forced to retire.
State statute says that once the commission recommends dismissal, the judge must be suspended with pay pending a final decision by the Supreme Court, said Meg Babcock, commission counsel.
"Her removal is necessary to protect the integrity of the judicial system and to ensure the fair and timely administration of justice in her court," the commission wrote in its eight-page recommendation to the high court.
Kouros was first suspended by the state Supreme Court in June 2003 for a pattern of abuses that revolved around allowing case records to pile up in her courtroom; she returned to the bench in January.
At a 10-hour hearing in April before a panel of judicial masters, fellow judges testified that the backlog in Kouros' court, which dated back to 2001, had prevented the timely release of inmates from the Lake County Jail.
Judge Pro Tem Raymond Kickbush, who filled in for Kouros during her imposed absence, testified that he found a letter to the court from accused serial killer Eugene Britt that was stuffed with old magazines and papers in a box beneath the office fax machine. Kickbush told the panel of masters that he thought the job was too big for Kouros.
Kouros' attorney Kevin McGoff said the commission's recommendation was not unexpected. In March, the Supreme Court had rejected an earlier agreement worked out between the judge and the Judicial Qualifications Commission.
Kouros is expected to be in her courtroom today, waiting an official suspension order from the high court. McGoff said he expected the order would be issued quickly, though it could be months before the Supreme Court issues a final decision on Kouros' future as a jurist.
"The court rules when it rules. There is no way to predict," McGoff said.
A final decision isn't expected for at least 30 days because Kouros has that much time to file her response to the Supreme Court.
Gov. Evan Bayh appointed Kouros as judge in January 1997, in one of his last acts as Indiana governor. She replaced retiring Judge Richard Conroy.
Kouros, 46, has maintained that a combination of her battle with multiple sclerosis and an obsessive-compulsive disorder compelled her to check and re-check her findings before issuing rulings. A, a former deputy prosecutor, said she would stay nights and weekends to grapple with the increasing backlog.
During Kouros' suspension, she began treatment for the obsessive-compulsive disorder, and sought advice from judges around the state on courtroom management.
In June, the panel of masters found substantial problems with Kouros' court, but did not make a recommendation to the Supreme Court on whether to remove her from the bench.
After she returned from her first paid suspension in January, Kouros was under an order from the Supreme Court to return all case files within 48 hours. Investigators for the Judicial Qualifications Commission found between January and March 40 sentencing orders had been delayed by at least six days. Some orders had been delayed by weeks. They found 30 orders were signed but not processed or remained unsigned for long periods, according to their findings.
"Unfortunately, this case is about far more than administrative failures. It is about Judge Kouros' trustworthiness," the brief stated.
No comments:
Post a Comment