The Ohio Supreme Court Dec. 26 upheld former Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter’s request for a stay on her six-month sentence until after an appeal of her felony conviction can be heard.
The decision is the latest chapter in a dramatic court fight for Hunter, who had to wage an earlier, year-long legal battle for a recount in the 2010 election to gain her seat as the juvenile court’s first black judge. Hunter ran on a promise to reform the county’s juvenile justice system, which she said is racially biased.
Hunter was convicted of having unlawful interest in a public contract in October, one of eight felony counts charged against her. The jury hung on the other seven counts. The charge that stuck is usually punished by a fine and probation. However, Hamilton County Judge Norbert Nadel sentenced Hunter to the jail term earlier this month because of her stature as a judge, he said.
Hunter’s supporters say she’s a victim of politics and that her aggressive attempts to reform the county’s juvenile justice system made powerful enemies. Her critics say she broke the law by misusing court-issued credit cards, improperly handling court records and other infringements.
Hunter’s conviction stems from an incident in which her brother, a Hamilton County courts employee, was accused of punching a juvenile inmate. Hunter was convicted of improperly obtaining the inmate’s health records and sharing them with her brother. There was no decision on the other charges, which included alleged tampering with dates on court records.
The case has been complex and contentious. Hunter’s attorney filed three motions for a new trial in November, all of which Nadel denied. Three jury members who initially voted to convict Hunter on the felony count later recanted their votes, though it was too late.
After the verdict and sentencing, both Nadel and an appeals court turned down requests from Hunter’s attorney, Clyde Bennett III, to suspend her sentence until after her appeal was wrapped up. Bennett said making Hunter serve her time before the appeals process would be absurd, as she would have already served her sentence by the time her appeal makes its way through the courts. Attorneys with the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, which is representing Hunter in the appeals process, say her appeal could take a year.
Hunter supporters rallied Dec. 28 at Tried Stone New Beginning Church in Bond Hill to show support for the suspended judge and call for changes to county’s juvenile justice system, which they say is racially biased in the way it administers justice.
The ongoing saga over Hunter’s fate comes as Hamilton County’s juvenile justice system faces increased scrutiny. A November lawsuit by the Covington-based Children’s Law Center alleges huge racial disparities in the Hamilton County juvenile justice system.
According to the suit, black children in the county were 10 times more likely to be incarcerated in the county’s juvenile system than white children. The suit against the county alleges that three juveniles were held by the county for weeks without probable cause and alleges that those cases were not isolated incidents but examples of a larger systemic problem within the county’s juvenile court system. Officials with the county responded to the lawsuit by saying the county is following all state and federal laws.
