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Court orders Judge Kouros removed from bench
NWI Times
Oct 12, 2004
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/court-orders-judge-kouros-removed-from-bench/article_bc6b7cbe-0f12-52cd-a15a-b9dc3ab44027.html
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The Indiana Supreme Court ordered Tuesday that a Lake Superior Court judge who was twice suspended for creating a backlog of cases be removed from office.
The high court said Judge Joan Kouros had failed to manage her caseload or even "provide accurate information that would allow us to monitor her performance with confidence to ensure that justice is being administered fairly and promptly in her court."
The justices ordered Kouros removed from office effective Feb. 25, and said a previously ordered suspension with pay would remain in effect until then. The postponed removal ensures that Kouros will not lose minimum pension benefits when she reaches retirement age.
Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for attorneys representing Kouros.
The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications had in July recommended Kouros' removal. Thomas Webber, a retired Porter County judge, was appointed by the high court to take Kouros' place in Lake County Criminal Court.
It was not immediately clear whether Webber would continue in that position.
Kouros was appointed to the bench in 1997 and retained by voters in 2000 in the face of calls by a number of Lake County lawyers that she be removed.
In 2002, the Division of State Court Administration reported finding more than 200 files for cases in which hearings or trials had occurred, but for which Kouros had made no corresponding written orders, the Supreme Court said in its decision.
"DSCA also observed that the surfaces of desks were covered with files, many of which were themselves covered with 'post-it' notes documenting the court's decisions," the decision said.
Kouros told the judicial commission this year that after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1984, an obsessive compulsive disorder became more pronounced, hampering her work.
Kouros described herself as a perfectionist, with a low rate of cases overturned on appeal.
Doctors had said that Kouros' health issues do not negatively impact or interfere with her ability to function as a judge, the court said in its decision.
The court added that Kouros had expressed remorse and apologized for the backlog.
The justices said that Kouros' "misconduct reflects, essentially, an inability to carry out the duties of her office rather than moral culpability."
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