Judge Carole Squire (Esquire)
Posted on 10/11/2005 3:07:44 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Judge accused of misconduct Complaints filed in handling of 2 juvenile cases Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Kevin Mayhood THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A Franklin County Juvenile Court judge has been accused of abusing the rights of those who came before her, not following the law and violating judicial rules in two cases.
Judge Carole Squire forced a woman to present her own case without her attorneys and prohibited her from speaking to them when the woman sought a civil protection order for herself and her 9-year-old child, according to the complaint, which was made public yesterday.
In that and the other case, Squire wouldn’t allow a court reporter to record proceedings, denying the attorneys the ability to appeal her decisions, the complaint says. When a court reporter was present in the second case, it says, Squire made false and misleading statements that covered up actions she’d taken while the reporter was absent.
Squire tried to keep the complaint under wraps. Last week she filed two federal lawsuits and a motion to bar the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline from discussing the complaint at its meeting on Friday. When those failed, she sent the board a motion to dismiss the complaint.
The board, however, found there was enough evidence of wrongdoing to make the complaint public and proceed with disciplinary hearings against Squire. If she’s found guilty of misconduct, punishment could range from a public reprimand to loss of her law license and the job she was elected to five years ago.
Squire, through her attorney, George Jonson, of Cincinnati, declined to comment yesterday. Jonathan E. Coughlan, the Ohio Supreme Court’s disciplinary counsel who filed the complaint, also declined to comment.
According to the document:
In 2003, a woman sought an order to protect herself and her child from the child’s father. The father filed a counterclaim, saying the mother was unfit and he should maintain custody.
Squire didn’t hold hearings the day the petitions were filed, as state law requires. The mother and father took time off work for three days in a row, but Squire kept postponing the hearings.
The mother’s attorneys, Lorie L. McCaughan and Jenifer Thompson, obtained an order from the Franklin County Court of Appeals on Nov. 7, 2003, to force Squire to act. Squire held a hearing in which she made contradictory and confusing statements, acted as an advocate for the father, berated McCaughan and Thompson and concluded she would not go on the record with her decision.
Squire repeatedly said she was investigating the case herself, which would be a violation of judicial code.
On Nov. 12, McCaughan and Thompson filed affidavits accusing Squire of bias and asking the Ohio Supreme Court to remove her from the case.
They told her about their request that day, but Squire immediately opened a hearing on the woman’s protection order. McCaughan and Thompson said they could not argue the case with the motion pending before the Supreme Court.
Squire ordered the woman to proceed on her own. She repeatedly interrupted her testimony and refused her requests to speak to her attorneys, who remained in the courtroom. Squire told the woman she didn’t care what she said.
Squire granted the father’s protection order but gave temporary custody to his mother, who wasn’t part of the case, and said the parents could have only supervised visits with their child.
In early 2004, Squire phoned Thompson and told her that McCaughan, Thompson’s coworker at Capital University Law Clinic, was not a good mentor and offered to be her mentor. She implied that if Thompson continued to support McCaughan’s version of events, a disciplinary complaint could be filed against her.
Squire disqualified herself from the case on Jan. 13, 2004, blaming the attorneys for the delays and calling their actions "extremely inappropriate."
In the second case described in the complaint, a father of two asked for an order on Jan. 18 of this year to protect himself and his children from his estranged wife.
Squire didn’t rule the same day, began investigating the case herself, took information from the wife’s side while the father’s attorney, Susan M. Lantz, was not present, and berated Lantz.
After she refused to allow Lantz to put her actions on the record, Squire made up her own version of events and found Lantz in contempt of court.
On Feb. 7, Lantz filed an affidavit of bias against Squire and asked the Supreme Court to order her off her client’s protection order and divorce cases.
On April 7, the Supreme Court disqualified Squire from all cases involving Lantz’s client.
kmayhood@dispatch.com
Just prepping for future supreme court nominee.
Judge Carole Squire (Esquire)
The "Family Courts" of the US can only be described as the gates of hell presided over by FemiNazis and crooked shysters.
As an Ex-CPS worker, I could tell a dozen stories about family court. Far too many times, whenever some horrible story about CPS hits the news, it's never mentioned the situation was caused not by CPS, but by the judge.
Oh, and this piece of feces Judge is of course a democrat partisan:
http://www.fcdp.org/office.html
The worst is to be expected from any lawyer who calls himself Esquire.
Is this judge off her medication? She sounds like a complete fruit loop. Investigating cases herself? Has she been watching too much Law & Order?
I feel for you if she was the judge on your case.
I once represented the teenage son of a client in traffic court in a large city. The boy had been involved in a traffic accident on a Friday night, and the cop found a can of beer in his car. The boy passed a breathalyzer test (it wasn't even a close call), which apparently pissed off the cop, who proceeded then to charge him with reckless driving. Problem was that a cop can only charge reckless driving when he himself has witnessed it, and this officer hadn't come onto the scene until after the accident.
At the hearing, I moved to dismiss the charge because the cop wasn't present (we had requested that he be there) and because the police report made it clear that he had not witnessed the boy's driving.
The judge proceeded to scream at me for trying to get the boy off on "technicalities" when in her view "he needed to be taught a lesson." I just let her blow off steam, and eventually she calmed down and dismissed the charge. But it was very hard to explain to my young client that he had just been part of a judicial proceeding presided over by a judicial officer.
A.K.A. The Fruitcake Lady.
So, she gets to talk to HER lawyer?
More like too much Judging Amy.
I know what you mean. During my divorce, my estranged (now ex) wife had taken out a restraining order on me. For nothing, probably just because her attorney told her to. She then proceeded to call the police several times to say I was stalking her (never happened). Then I was arrested for one of these phony "stalkings". I was with my GF (now wife) at the time. She testified on my behalf and told the truth. The judge dismissed the charges, "reluctantly" (yes, she really said that). I will never trust the legal system ever again.
Wow, all i can say about this is wow! I have been in family court myself and there is nothing pretty about it. While my case was going on and I was on the stand witnessing about what I thought to be important and since the judge was going to be the one making the decision i thought it was best he hear all of what i had to say. I looked over at one point and he was yapping away with some gal(probably someone from his office) who had came in from the back of the court. I was like huh?? Here i was fighting for my son and the judge isn't even paying attn. It sickens me!
Ditto for at least some of these courts and law firms in the "Commonwealth" of Massachusetts!
Well,you are way better attorney than the judge ever be.I hope you feel much better :=)
I've been there too. It's just another day at the office for these jokers. You (and your child) are just as much of a number as you are to the credit card people. They just don't care.
Everytime I hear "best interest of the child", I feel my blood boil.
So what you are saying is your wife got ticked off because you were seeing another woman and filed for divorce so she used the courts to get back at you?
Damn, she's either one frustrated black woman taking it out on these people, menopause or she's just one nasty liberal bitch who needs to be removed.
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