08252004 - News Article - Embattled judge files petition

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Embattled judge files petition
Indiana Lawyer (Indianapolis, IN)
August 25, 2004
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/resources/doc/nb/news/10E9B8F991322538?p=AWNB
Lake Superior Court Judge Joan Kouros filed an Aug. 13 Petition for Review in answer to charges brought by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications regarding Kouros' job performance.

Kouros had a hearing April 22 before a three-judge masters' panel, which consisted of Marion Superior Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, Allen Superior Judge John Surbeck Jr., and Vanderburgh Circuit Judge Carl Heldt. The panel recommended that Kouros not be disbarred, but made no recommendation as to her discipline, removal, or retirement.

At the recommendation of the commission, Kouros was suspended pending disposition of the disciplinary proceeding by the Indiana Supreme Court.

Her Aug. 13 petition says the commission's characterization of her case is unfair. Judge Kouros had certified on March 4, 2003, that she was following the minimum standards of the court's Jan. 17 order regarding the flow of paperwork through her office, among other things.

The commission found that this certification was false.

In her petition, Kouros, asserts she "has been in substantial compliance" with the court's order.

"The fact that Judge Kouros has been in substantial compliance, rather than full compliance with the Court's Order, is not altogether her fault," the petition reads.

Kouros goes on to explain that she did not have adequate secretarial support for portions of the time during which the commission examined her office.

Her longtime secretary retired, but she was maintained on the payroll because she was owed vacation and could not be replaced until she was removed from the payroll, Kouros said.

When a new secretary started a month later, she was not experienced in the court system and needed to be brought up to speed with the system and the volume of work that goes through the court.

The petition also answers several objections the commission made to the masters' report, and agreed with the masters' findings that Kouros had not committed willful misconduct, and addressed several other objections the commission had made.

"Since her return, the judge had made an earnest effort to comply with the Order of the Indiana Supreme Court," the petition reads.

In a brief in support of the position, the judge's attorneys, Kevin McGoff and Stanley Jablonski, argued that Kouros should not be removed from the bench, citing case law from other jurisdictions with similar fact patterns in which judges have received less serious sanctions.

They reiterated the positive steps Kouros has taken, including attending conferences, visiting other judges, and increasing administrative efficiencies in her office, and again noted that Kouros had substantially complied with the court's order. From this point, the high court will make a determination as to what, if any, sanctions will be imposed against the judge.

08182004 - News Article - Court must act quickly in removal of Kouros

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Court must act quickly in removal of Kouros
Post-Tribune (IN)
August 18, 2004
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/resources/doc/nb/news/104B80C6AEB2F3F7?p=AWNB
It was disappointing to see that suspended Lake Superior Court Judge Joan Kouros is further attempting to delay her removal from the bench.

It now is pushing four years since Kouros' poor performance first was brought to public attention.

She currently is being paid, even though the Supreme Court last month suspended her from the bench. Retired Porter Superior Court Judge Thomas Webber Sr., who was named to temporarily run Kouros' court, also is being paid by Lake County taxpayers.

As bad as Kouros' performance has been, the way the Supreme Court has handled the matter hasn't been much better.

The high court in January 2001 ordered Kouros to clean up the case backlog. Rather than closely monitoring the situation, the Supreme Court waited two years before again telling Kouros to improve her operation.

She was suspended in June 2003 but reinstated, without explanation from the Supreme Court, five months later. It took another eight months before the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications recommended that she again be removed.

On July 22, the Supreme Court suspended Kouros, pending its review of the case. Kouros now has appealed the commission's findings.

Sadly, Kouros blames a change in secretaries for not being in compliance with the Supreme Court's order that she eliminate her backlog and return case files to the county clerk's office. While a secretary can be key to any operation, it is wrong to blame the court's shortcomings on a change in secretaries.

We encourage the Supreme Court to quickly finalize its suspension and restore public trust to the operation of the court.

08142004 - News Article - Judge asks Supreme Court for mercy - Removal is too harsh a punishment, Kouros' lawyers argue

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Judge asks Supreme Court for mercy
Removal is too harsh a punishment, Kouros' lawyers argue
NWI Times
Aug 14, 2004
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/judge-asks-supreme-court-for-mercy/article_4095d090-c485-56c0-b219-b8a81e06f19e.html
As expected, Judge Joan Kouros formally asked the Indiana Supreme Court on Friday to reject a July 14 recommendation for her removal by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications.

She wants -- in fact, she deserves -- to stay on the Lake County Criminal Court bench, Kouros' attorneys argue in the papers filed late Friday.

Because the Judicial Commission requested Kouros' permanent removal, the Supreme Court suspended Kouros with pay until it makes the final decision. Senior Judge Thomas Webber Sr. now runs Criminal Courtroom 3 in her absence.

In Kouros' brief, attorneys Kevin McGoff and Stanley Jablonski state: "Removal of a judge from office is one of the most severe sanctions and should be done 'cautiously and only when justice demands it.' "

The highest court should not remove Kouros because she has "substantially complied" with Supreme Court's orders on how to manage her criminal court, the brief states.

Furthermore, "she has acknowledged her acts, accepted responsibility for them and apologized on the record."

And, she's trying; that should count for something, her attorneys argue in the brief.

Besides, it's not her fault, they say.

In papers filed Friday, Kouros' attorneys maintain that when Kouros returned from her six-month suspension in January, she didn't have a regular secretary. It wasn't until Feb. 22 that Kouros found her current secretary, and it took time for her to be trained by secretaries from the floating secretarial pool.

"Although Judge Kouros has two bailiffs, three court reporters, all of whom work full time, they do not assist, except in a minimal way, in making entries and moving the files that come through the court," the petition states.

"In fact, if there are not trials and the call is finished, the bailiffs leave."

A battle has been waged between Kouros and the Judicial Commission since lawyers in Kouros' court began complaining four years ago about not getting their fees in a timely manner and jail inmate transfers were stalled because she was too slow in completing routine paperwork.

Kouros was appointed judge in 1997.

There is no timetable set forth for the state's highest court to make that decision.

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