The Columbus city council is expected to appoint a new municipal judge tonight. The interview process city officials have undertaken in vetting the applicants has certainly been opaque. And frankly, parts of it have left us struggling to find the lines that are supposed to separate the judiciary from the other two branches of government.
To begin with, the city has refused to publicly release the names of the applicants.
All they have offered this newspaper is that three people applied for the position. No public input session has been allowed, and a six-person committee that has interviewed the applicants did so behind closed doors. Furthermore, as of Friday, some city councilmen claimed to not know who the applicants are. Keep in mind, these councilmen are expected to vote on the hire this evening.
Speaking of that committee, one of its members was Columbus Police Chief Tony Carleton. The city’s top law enforcement officer having a hand in choosing a city judge is disturbing. That’s like a baseball team’s manager having a say in choosing a game’s umpire while the other team gets no say. We question Carleton being on that committee.
Additionally, we were told by someone present at one of the interviews that the committee asked an applicant whether they were a “team player.”
Say what?
Hopefully, “team player” was an unfortunate term. We certainly understand judges and law enforcement must have a professional working relationship. And, admittedly, “team player” is not an uncommon phrase to throw out in a job interview. But if “team player” means tipping the scales of justice to the benefit of a politician’s agenda or the police department, it is a serious attack on the integrity of our court.
Perhaps the use of the phrase would be clearer had the entire process been more transparent.
Unfortunately, a large number of our citizens will go before this soon-to-be municipal judge.
Judges should be independent arbiters whose rulings and workings with the entities — law enforcement and citizenry — it encounters are fair.
Add to this questionable, non-transparent approach the fact that the vacant position was last occupied by someone the state Commission on Judicial Performance recently recommended for a public reprimand, and we are downright disappointed by the city’s approach.
It hurts everyone involved: Elected officials, the people they serve and even the applicants.
Will the candidate chosen for the seat have emerged because he or she indicated a willingness to conduct themselves in a fashion favorable to the police department and city administration? We hope not.
Nothing whatsoever should ever make the credibility of a judge be called into question.
Unless members of the city council put their feet down this evening and somehow force a more public process, it may be too late.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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