Cleveland judge holds court despite order
A Cleveland Municipal Court judge has for two days held court hearings despite a directive from her court’s administrative judge to postpone all court hearings for defendants who are not in jail as a means to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Judge Pinkey Carr, a former prosecutor in her ninth year on the bench, has held court hearings for defendants who are free after posting bond, despite an announcement on the court’s website declaring that all such hearings scheduled between Monday and April 3 would be rescheduled, a court spokesman told cleveland.com in response to questions posed on Tuesday.
Carr has also issued arrest warrants for defendants who heeded the court’s website and did not show up to court.
Court spokesman Ed Ferenc said Tuesday that Administrative
and Presiding Judge Michelle Earley was aware that Carr held court hearings on Monday and Tuesday that were not in accordance with the administrative order Earley issued Friday. All of the court’s judges got a copy of the order, Ferenc said. He also said that Carr issued arrest warrants this week, but did not know how many.
Carr’s courtroom referred cleveland.com to Ferenc for comment. Ferenc then referred cleveland.com back to Carr.
Carr and her bailiff, David
Morrow, did not respond to voicemails seeking comment.
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association CEO Rebecca Ruppert McMahon said in a Tuesday statement to cleveland.com that the organization is “greatly concerned by the action of any judge that keeps his or her court open for nonessential matters during this time of national emergency.”
Doing so, McMahon said, ignores recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of Health and other medical and health agencies on social distancing and avoiding crowds of 10 or more people.
“This is not about judicial independence,” McMahon said. “This is about putting the lives of plaintiffs, defendants, attorneys, police officers and courtroom employees in jeopardy, as well the lives of their families and friends.”
The court announced Earley’s administrative order in a Friday news release, saying she acted “in an effort to prevent ‘community spread’ of the coronavirus and for the safety of the people who appear before the General Division of the Court and our employees.”
A banner alert atop the court’s website declared in red type that “there will be no cases scheduled at the Cleveland Municipal Court from Monday March 16, 2020 to Friday April 3, 2020. All cases previously scheduled during this period will be rescheduled.”
The Cleveland Municipal Court website on Tuesday told the public that court hearings had been postponed amid the coronavirus.