Joy Oldfield won election to a judgeship on the Akron Municipal Court five years ago. Now, before her term ends, she is asking voters to approve a promotion to the Summit County common pleas bench. She wants to finish the unexpired term of Tom Parker, who moved to the federal court to serve as a magistrate.
Oldfield has many influential supporters, including the Akron mayor and county executive. The judge and her backers highlight the good work she has performed at the municipal court, for instance, updating the recovery court, helping to develop plans for a new court building and reshaping the appointment of attorneys in felony cases. She is smart, ambitious, engaged in her job and the community.
The judge also talks about lessons learned, or moving past the incident, shortly after she joined the bench, that resulted in the Ohio Supreme Court issuing a public reprimand. The court found her in violation of judicial and professional conduct rules. No need here to rehash the details, except to say that the judge still does not grasp the full measure of her misconduct, including, via her attorney, the quick condemnation of Copley Township police officers.
As the chief justice asked in arguing the punishment of the high court was not tough enough: Who had the greater incentive to lie?
One incident should not define a career. Judge Oldfield appears determined to make amends, but it is too early to elevate her to the common pleas court.
Scot Stevenson won the appointment of the governor to fill the vacancy, joining the court in June. He points to his previous experience as a magistrate in the Barberton Municipal Court and the Cuyahoga Falls mayor’s court, along with his work in private practice since the early 1990s, with the emphasis more recently on probate cases. Stevenson faces a learning curve. He also is the better candidate in this race.
We recommend the election of Scot Stevenson on Nov. 8.
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Two years ago, Todd McKenney won election to fill an unexpired term on the Summit County common pleas bench. Now he is seeking a full, six-year term. He has performed well in the position, drawing on a range of experience and benefiting from an earnest approach.
We recommend the re-election of Todd McKenney on Nov. 8.
Among the experiences that McKenney taps is his pastoral service at The Chapel for a dozen years. It informs his solid temperament, alert, particularly, to the stakes for those defendants before him. He speaks thoughtfully about the challenge often in setting the appropriate sentence.
McKenney benefits, too, from his time (albeit short) on the Barberton municipal bench and in the state legislature. The range of perspectives makes him a more effective judge. He has earned a full term on the court.
His opponent is Alison Breaux, a magistrate handling small claims matters in the Akron Municipal Court the past four years. Before joining the court, she practiced in the area of civil defense, from appeals in personal injury cases to employment litigation. More recently, she had moved to criminal defense work. So, she, too, has a range of experience.
Breaux shows much promise running in her first campaign for office. Yet, in this race, she is not the stronger candidate.