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EDITORIALS - Justices seize the gavel
The issue: Joan Kouros
NWI Times
Oct 13, 2004
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/justices-seize-the-gavel/article_4cf92821-17b9-5046-96d0-bbe15ac40049.html
Our opinion: Despite this proper discipline by the Indiana Supreme Court, the taxpayers still have to support her.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday finally decided to remove Lake Superior Court Judge Joan Kouros from the bench, ending two years of efforts to help her manage her caseloads and two suspensions for not doing so.
Unfortunately, for the taxpayers of Lake County, her removal does not free them from the obligation of paying her salary or future pension. The justices decided she will not have to relinquish her position until Feb. 25, thus ensuring she will not lose her pension benefits when she reaches retirement age. In addition, the justices said her current suspension with pay, since August, will remain in effect until Feb. 25. County Judges make about $98,000 a year.
Faced with mounting evidence of her inability to handle her judicial duties, the justices had no choice but to take this unprecedented step. In their ruling, they said Kouros 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."
They were repeating what other investigations into Kouros' handling of her courtroom have found. The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications cited nearly four years of "futile second chances" for Kouros.
Problems in her courtroom started four years ago when lawyers began complaining they were not getting their fees in a timely manner. In addition, jail inmate transfers were not done because Kouros was slow in completing the routine -- but necessary -- paperwork. The commission reviewed her court and found a backlog of hundreds of cases awaiting her signature on decisions made months earlier.
Kouros, appointed to the bench in 1997 by then-Gov. Evan Bayh, now a U.S. senator, has explained that after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an obsessive-compulsive disorder became more pronounced, hampering her work. She has sought help for her ailments, which is commendable.
But the issue is the timely and fair dispensation of justice in the court system here.
What is not fair is that, despite this proper discipline by the Indiana Supreme Court, the taxpayers still have to support her.
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