More than a week after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled on her ability to practice law, former Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter addressed the court’s decision and reiterated claims she was pushed out of office and wrongly prosecuted.
Flanked by supporters Thursday at Western Hills Brethren in Christ Church in Westwood, where Hunter is pastor, she said the justices failed to acknowledge the “unimaginable injustices and abuses I openly faced and endured as the first Black judge of one of the largest juvenile courts in Ohio.”
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On Nov. 21, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered that Hunter be “indefinitely suspended” from practicing law, but allowed her to immediately apply for reinstatement because of credit she earned for the more than nine years she was on interim suspension.
Hunter was convicted in October 2014 of having an unlawful interest in a public contract, a fourth-degree felony. That charge was related to Hunter using her position as judge to give her brother, a juvenile court employee on the brink of being fired, confidential documents.
A Hamilton County jury could not agree on verdicts for eight other counts.
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She was sentenced to six months in jail but was allowed to remain out of jail while she pursued appeals. In 2019, a judge ruled that her sentence must begin and she ended up spending 75 days behind bars.
Hunter maintains her innocence, saying the charges against her were fabricated after she tried to expose alleged mishandling of juvenile cases by the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office and because of her work to institute reforms within the juvenile justice system.
“I’ve been suspended and denied my law license for 10 years come January, an unprecedented amount of time in the history of Ohio for allegations that not only did not happen, but were not a crime,” Hunter told reporters at Thursday’s press conference. “I vow to continue to fight to clear my name and bring national attention to the racist, corrupt, unjust criminal justice system that prevails in the state of Ohio.”
Hunter did not answer any further questions from reporters.
The Ohio Supreme Court Board of Professional Conduct found Hunter violated five ethics rules related to the incident leading to her conviction and recommended her suspension.
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Justices Pat DeWine, son of Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, and Joe Deters, the former Hamilton County prosecutor who was appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court last year, recused themselves from the case.
Hunter filed documents asking Justice Patrick F. Fischer to recuse himself from her disciplinary case as well, a request the justice denied and labeled “unusual.”
Fischer ruled on Hunter’s suspension last week, writing a dissenting opinion that stated she should not be granted credit for time served.
“Hunter was convicted of a felony offense, acted with a selfish motive, and has taken no responsibility for her actions and continues to blame others for her legal situation,” Fischer wrote.
Ohio Supreme Court records still list Hunter as being suspended. It remains unclear if she has applied to have her license reinstated.
“I hesitate to practice law in a state that applies laws differently based on race, political affiliation and socioeconomic status,” Hunter said.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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