This week Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation charged former Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Pinkey Carr with three counts of falsification. Each count is a first-degree misdemeanor, which carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and possible jail time of up to six months on each count. She will be arraigned August 8, 2023.
The offenses date back to May 21, 2019, and two dates in June 2020, and state that on three separate occasions, Carr signed journal entries which a spokesman for the attorney general states “did not reflect what happened during the proceedings in court.” The attorney general therefore concluded that Carr “did knowingly make a false statement,” which they allege gave rise to the charges.
Last year I wrote a commentary critical of the position of the City of Cleveland that gives municipal court judges a blank check when paying for legal fees when a judge is accused of misconduct, citing Carr as the most recent example. I maintain that position. There should be a cap on legal fees for municipal court judges when charged with misconduct.
That being said, the city has now paid for her defense, and she has been sanctioned and removed from the bench. Why is Attorney General Yost bringing these charges?
During her service as a judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court, Carr exercised poor judgment and made decisions that were detrimental to our entire system of justice and all members of the judiciary. Believing that she had supreme power, she mistreated defendants and lawyer; used her courtroom to sentence people who were unable to pay fines to debtors’ prison; and issued arrest warrants for people who failed to appear in court, even though the court was officially closed due to the pandemic.
As a result, the Disciplinary Counsel of the Ohio Supreme Court brought charges against her in September of 2020. After numerous hearings and a final review by the Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court, a period in which she had been removed from the bench pending disposition of her case, she was suspended from her judicial office without pay. She received an indefinite suspension of her license to practice law. In addition, she is required to comply with counseling requirements plus pay the cost of the proceedings before there would be any possibility of her regaining her license to practice law.
The bottom line is that Carr was stripped of her judgeship, her license to practice law and the ability to make a living in a profession in which she had been engaged most of her adult life. How many more pounds of flesh must she pay?
In my opinion, for the attorney general to now heap on criminal charges on her is dead wrong. Carr received one of the harshest sentences imposed on a judge in recent history, which some people argue was too harsh. Judges around the State of Ohio have been removed from the bench for misconduct. In my memory, I do not recall any judge being subjected to additional criminal charges relating to the conduct that got them removed from the bench.
I don’t know if Yost is using Carr as an example of his law-and-order style as a foray to seek higher office or what. I do not know if race played a factor in this decision. Carr received her punishment from the Ohio Supreme Court. She has accepted it and I assume is trying to get her life back together. She will now have to hire her own lawyer and defend herself again. And the city will have to bear the expense of bringing in a visiting judge to hear the case since the current members of the court will most likely recuse themselves.
I am fully aware that double jeopardy does not apply in this case. Carr was punished as a result of a civil/administrative process, and these new charges are criminal. In my opinion bringing these charges clearly violates the spirit of double jeopardy that is intrinsic to our system of justice. You do not try a person a second time for the same offense. Fair is fair. To kick a person when they are already down is wrong. Shame on you, Dave Yost.
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she serves on the Board of the Ohio History Connection, is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission and president of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.
5 Responses to “POINT OF ORDER: Prosecution of Former Judge Is Overkill by C. Ellen Connally”
Michael Dunn
I agree with you Judge. It sounds like a racial discrimination. Most judged has done things contrary to law without correction. I’m aware of it first hand. Daniel Gaul was in the news but nothing has been said of his outcome.
Mary Ostendorf
Our judicial system requires balance.
Sharon Milligan
Thank you Judge for this article. I agree with you.
J-Lynn
1,. Democrat
2,. Womam
3. Black
Leo W Jeffres
Sound judgment from Ellen Connally, as always.