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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.
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