8 1971 – 1980 major changes, major embarrassment (The construction of The Justice Center and the FBI raid both took place in this decade, but are featured in separate stories.) The turbulent decade of the 70s would bring to the Cleveland city court the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. All of Cleveland would celebrate the new Justice Center, lauded as a beautiful addition to the city skyline. But the taint of a case fixing scandal would land a black eye on Cleveland justice that would last into the next decade. Those 2 topics earned their own separate stories. For the purpose of this article, they will receive the briefest of mention. The court began the year with a seat open due to the appointment of Judge Frederick Coleman as a U.S. Attorney. As his replacement, Governor James A. Rhodes named Sara J. Harper to fill Coleman’s unexpired term. She began her term on January 14th. An almost annual topic for the Cleveland investigative media had been the criticism of the judicial working hours in the local courts. Because of the media’s concern over the number of hours the elected judges were actually working, the Ohio Municipal Judges Association were considering a proposal to allow a Chief Justice to take action against judges who failed to work a full day. This time it was The Cleveland Press that brought the subject of the hours kept by the Cleveland municipal judges to the public’s attention through a series of articles that began back in December. Newspaper operatives began taking attendance in the courtrooms at City Hall. They reported that 5 of 10 judges in the civil branch were absent more than ½ the time when checked in the afternoon. When confronted, Chief Justice Richard Brennan lamented his lack of authority over the hours kept by his judicial mates. Brennan said, “I agree with the general conclusion that a significant and substantial portion of the 13 judges of this court habitually and chronically do not work in the afternoon. This is a condition that has existed for many, many years.” Those judges who were considered by the paper as the worst offenders defended their records. “When my cases are cleared up, I go home. When there’s work to do, I work in the afternoon,” said Judge Anthony Rutkowski. Judge Joseph Stearns said, “In my room, the bulk of the work is done in the morning. When I feel there is no need for my services, I go home.” “When my docket is finished, what should I do? Sit around and twiddle my thumbs?” said Judge Hugh Brennan. Chief Justice Brennan took issue with his colleague’s reactions. “There certainly is a backlog of cases in the civil branch . Granted there would be times in the afternoons when they might not have something to do, but that’s a lot of nonsense about not being busy in the afternoon. The action by the state group that would increase the Chief Justice’s power was first proposed by the Greater Cleveland Municipal Judges Association. Although some of their 35 members dissented, the group agreed to forward their recommendations to the state group. If the 165 member state group agrees, they will refer the proposal to the legislature. Local group President Judge Manuel R. Rocker of Shaker Heights Municipal Court admitted that the proposal was prompted by the series of articles in the press. “We’re not trying to ask every judge to work with a time clock, but we realize the general image of the municipal judge must be raised. The Chief Justice needs some sort of control over the people who work for him.” 331 The proposal as offered by the judges association would empower a municipal Chief Justice to file a complaint with the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court if the offending judge was absent regularly during business hours. The Chief Justice would then appoint 3 associate justices to review the charges. A 30 day suspension could result. The judges association also planned to present to the state group a proposition to increase the monetary jurisdiction of municipal courts from $10,000 to $25,000. All such proposals made by the judge’s groups require state legislative approval. In the past, the bar associations and legislatures have traditionally ignored proposals which emanated from municipal courts.1 While it was the state group’s opinion that Chief Justices already were empowered to enforce full day work schedules for associate judges, it was not an opinion universally held, especially among the judges who were the object of their Chief’s discipline. Judge Norman Fuerst, President of the state group, stated that under section 1901.15 of the Ohio code, presiding judges have powers of “general supervision of the business of the court and may classify and distribute among the judges the business pending in the court . .” At a meeting of the state group held in Cincinnati, the proposals were rejected by the assembled membership.3 However, the vote didn’t stop the debate, which spilled further from the public pages. Chief Justice Brennan took issue with Judge Fuerst’s opinion regarding the authority of chief justices. From the pages of Cleveland’s afternoon daily came his observation. “Judge Fuerst is a good lawyer but I feel he made an error in his legal research. That’s just the problem; the Chief Justice is given general authority not specific authority. And that same section says any action of the Chief Justice can be amended, modified or vacated by a majority of the other judges.”4 Brennan pressed the issue once again, this time before a meeting of the League of Woman Voters, where he criticized the lack of authority actually provided to the presiding judge. He insisted that the 2 greatest problems facing the court were inadequate facilities and insufficient authority, reminding the assembled that at present, the law allows other judges to modify, amend, or nullify his orders. He favored a modification in the Chief Justice’s authority. “I propose that the Ohio Supreme Court and the Ohio General Assembly investigate the proposition that all operational business be under the sole authority of the Chief Justice of a court and that other judges be left to deciding questions of procedure.” According to Brennan, the rules that empower the Chief Justice were also quite limiting. A court employee, under the present system, could not be hired, transferred or fired unless or until all judges met and collectively made a decision. Brennan cited an instance where he opposed the appointment of an 80 year old bailiff because of age and past work record. He was overruled by the other judges at their regular meeting. “In private business, a decision like this can be made in 5 minutes and the 332 executive can return to more important work. My proposals are in keeping with the ideas recently espoused by Chief Justice Warren Burger of the Supreme Court.”5 Celebrities coming through Cleveland have quite often run afoul of the law. One such case in February of 1971 involved the actress Jane Fonda, who was to face charges for assault and battery in Judge Edward F. Feighan’s courtroom on East 21st Street. She was accused of attacking Cleveland Police Patrolman Robert S. Pieper at Hopkins Airport the previous November. She allegedly kicked Pieper and Customs Agent Edward B. Matuszak after they detained her for not declaring 105 vials of pills upon her arrival from Canada. Fonda faced additional charges in U.S. District Court for assaulting a customs agent and fraudulently bringing drugs into the country. Her hearing, scheduled for February 5th, was continued.6 When the wrangling over this case finally came to an Jane Fonda end, all federal charges against Fonda, were dropped. Included amongst the charges dropped by U.S. Attorney Frederick Coleman (one-time CMC judge) were several Federal counts of smuggling. Judge Thomas D. Lambros agreed with Coleman’s recommendation to halt the prosecution after the investigation determined that the pills Fonda had in her possession at the time of her arrest were manufactured by legitimate, domestic pharmaceutical producers, and had been procured through legal prescriptions. Fonda explained that the confiscated pills were health food vitamins. Federal inspections of the pills reportedly showed they contained a small amount of amphetamine. Because the assault charge stemmed from a Fonda request to use the restroom, Coleman felt proceeding on such a charge was not in the interest of justice. Although charges were still pending in municipal court, the Cleveland Police Prosecutor would drop those too in concurrence with Coleman. It is typical that in the aftermath of a celebrity court case, a certain amount of public posturing plays out in the media. Compared to today, this case produced a mere whimper. Coleman maintained that “the course of action of the government at the time of Miss Fonda’s arrest was consistent with the facts and information available at the time of her arrest.” Fonda, through a spokesperson said, “If there was even the slightest belief on the part of the government that I was guilty of any wrongdoing I would have been indicted, but they couldn’t even find probable cause. When I was arrested all my personal papers were taken and examined. It’s a harrowing experience to think that the innocent have no privacy when one can be detained in such a way having done nothing wrong.” 7 The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council began a rehabilitation program designed to encounter first offenders. Funded by a $520,000 grant from the U.S.