The Summit County Democratic Party is questioning whether an Akron judge violated judicial rules when she attended a rally for GOP candidate Donald Trump and stood directly behind him while holding one of his campaign signs.
The party requested an advisory opinion Wednesday on the issue from the Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct. The opinion sought clarification on the issue to govern future conduct of judges and judicial candidates.
“While I understand that judges and judicial candidates are allowed to attend political events in a neutral capacity, we are seeking clarity as to when conduct arises to the level of ‘public endorsement,’” attorney Tom Bevan, the Summit County Democratic Party’s second vice chair, wrote in a one-page request to the board. “These are issues that concern many of our judges and judicial candidates and guidance … [and] will be helpful in avoiding any problems going forward.”
Akron Municipal Judge Katarina Cook, a Republican candidate for Summit County Domestic Relations judge in Tuesday’s election, attended an Aug. 22 Trump in Akron rally where she was shown in photographs standing behind Trump holding a “Make America Great Again” sign and wearing a “Judge Cook” sticker. The photographs were shown on cleveland.com, YouTube and Facebook.
The Summit County Democratic Party issued a press release Wednesday about the advisory opinion request, saying “the opportunity to stand behind a presidential candidate as he or she addresses attendees is a rare and coveted opportunity reserved only for the candidate’s most ardent and connected local supporters.” The press release named Cook, while the opinion request did not.
Summit County Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Fusco said the party decided to request an opinion after getting numerous questions about whether Cook’s actions were permissible or violated the rule that prohibits judges or judicial candidates from “publicly endorsing or opposing a candidate for another public office.”
“We want to get clarification on what’s in bounds and out of bounds, so everyone will know the rules,” Fusco said.
Bryan Williams, the county GOP’s Executive Committee chairman, however, called this “brainless political fodder.” He said Cook attended the Trump rally where she was introduced as a candidate and stood with other program participants.
“Her presence was not a stated or implied endorsement of any partisan candidate introduced or in attendance at the rally,” Williams said.
Williams said introducing local candidates, including judicial candidates, at campaign events is a regular occurrence.
Fusco said none of Summit County’s Democratic judicial candidates attended any of the local campaign events this political season for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, or any of her surrogates.
“Our judges are very cautious whenever it comes to endorsing or being out in front in terms of candidates,” Fusco said.
Cook could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Cook, a judge since 2009, is in a hotly contested race against Ron Cable, a Democrat and magistrate in Domestic Relations Court, to replace retiring judge Carol Deszo.
Rick Dove, director of the Board of Professional Conduct, said advisory opinions are “prospective in nature” and aren’t confidential like the grievances the board also handles. When the board receives a request for an opinion, he said the staff reviews the request to see if it satisfies the requirements. If it does, the request is given to the board’s advisory opinion committee that looks over staff research, case law and other board opinions.
The committee then decides whether to write an opinion, decline to write one or ask the board’s staff to write a letter to the party that submitted the request. If the board decides an opinion is warranted, the full board must approve the opinion before it is issued, Dove said.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj .