Outgoing Cleveland housing judge accused of judicial misconduct for anti-landlord bias

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court’s disciplinary counsel has accused outgoing Cleveland Housing Court Judge W. Moná Scott of abusing her authority by pressuring prosecutors to beryllium much fierce against landlords and by dragging her feet connected pursuing dozens of higher tribunal orders connected eviction cases.

A Dec. 22 complaint, revenge pinch nan Ohio Board of Professional Conduct, comes weeks aft Scott was voted retired of agency arsenic nan lone judge connected nan city’s lodging court, which hears some criminal and civilian cases involving evictions and lodging codification violations successful Cleveland.

In nan complaint, Disciplinary Counsel Joseph Caligiuri accuses Scott of “abandoning judicial neutrality successful criminal cases” by refusing to admit attempts by nan metropolis of Cleveland’s rule section to not prosecute landlords aliases disregard their cases.

Last year, Scott besides threatened metropolis Law Director Mark Griffin pinch a judicial bid against each metropolis lodging codification prosecutors if his agency didn’t effort nan defendants connected her docket, according to an email included successful nan complaint. She besides suggested to Griffin successful different email that, successful a peculiar lawsuit against a landlord, she mightiness telephone nan city’s witnesses to attest and mobility them herself, according to an email quoted successful nan complaint.

In 1 email from October 2024, Scott criticized what she saw arsenic an expanding inclination of nan metropolis reaching plea agreements pinch nan defendants, arsenic portion of which nan metropolis agreed not to present grounds aliases telephone witnesses successful court.

“The City believes they person nan sole authority, astatine immoderate constituent successful nan case, not to proceed pursuing prosecution,” Scott wrote to Griffin. “I’m present to pass you that this belief is not valid and is unfounded successful law.”

The period before, Scott emailed David Roberts, nan city’s main adjunct rule director, stating that she would nary longer assistance immoderate requests for lawsuit dismissals isolated from for insufficient evidence, require prosecutors to lawsuit each witnesses, and gave proposal connected really nan metropolis should constitute its motions, behaviour discovery, and scope plea bargains.

A 3rd email, sent from a lodging tribunal worker successful August 2024 to an adjunct prosecutor, noted that spot proprietor 36 Eight LLC was being cited again for different probation violation. The worker said, astatine Scott’s suggestion, he wanted to “inquire astir pursuing [the spot owner] individually.”

Separately, nan title states that Scott ignored orders from nan Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals to either rumor a ruling aliases reverse her dismissals successful dozens of eviction cases successful 2022 and 2023, including a 2022 lawsuit successful which nan appeals tribunal overturned Scott’s dismissal of an eviction case because nan landlord didn’t record paperwork certifying that nan spot was lead-free.

In each of those cases, nan title states, Scott didn’t comply pinch nan higher court’s ruling until nan respective plaintiffs obtained a 2nd appellate tribunal bid demanding she either return action aliases springiness a bully logic for not doing so.

Scott “repeatedly ignored Ohio rule and nan Eighth District’s directives,” nan title stated, violating nan Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct and causing “harmful delays that deprived landlords of nan usage of their spot and besides forced landlords to salary important ineligible fees...that would not person been basal if [Scott] had followed nan law.”

The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com has reached retired to Scott, arsenic good arsenic nan city’s rule department, for comment.

The Ohio Board of Professional Conduct will now analyse nan complaint. If nan committee finds immoderate misconduct took place, it will taxable its findings and recommendations to nan Ohio Supreme Court, which will determine what punishment, if any, to impose.

The Ohio Supreme Court has a scope of imaginable penalties to take from successful disciplinary cases, from issuing a nationalist reprimand to revoking an offender’s rule license.

Scott, is group to time off agency connected Thursday aft losing past month’s wide predetermination to lawyer Cheryl Wiltshire, who won by 705 votes retired of much than 38,000 votes cast. Both Scott and Wiltshire are Democrats, though nan agency of lodging tribunal judge is technically a non-partisan position.

Scott, a erstwhile adjacent lodging administrator for Cleveland and an adjunct Cuyahoga County prosecutor, was elected lodging tribunal judge successful 2019, ousting Republican incumbent Ronald J.H. O’Leary.

Jeremy Pelzer has worked successful nan Columbus bureau of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer since 2013. Prior to that, Pelzer worked for Gongwer News Service successful Ohio and covered authorities and authorities successful Illinois,...