By Mansfield Frazier
The “Stokes Affair” is beginning to take on truly Shakespearean proportions; the only question being… is it tragedy, or is it farce?
Two recently released videos showing Judge Angela Stokes in action on the bench aired by Channel 19’s Paul Orlousky gives the public its first opportunity to view what many courtroom observers have been alleging for years: That Her Honor is virtually out of control, seemingly drunk on the power conferred by her black robe.
However, the two examples of her brutal behavior from the bench is only the tip of this unclean iceberg — there are literally hundreds of other such videos that will be released if Judge Stokes remains recalcitrant, combative, and refuses to step down while the case brought against her by the Disciplinary Counsel of the Ohio Supreme Court winds it way though a convoluted legal process. And sources say the other videos are even more ugly.
One has to wonder if Judge Stokes has ever viewed the videos of her own conduct on the bench. If she has, and still cannot come to the conclusion that something is amiss in her behavior … then this fact serves as further proof that she’s looking at the world through a lens clouded by her own arrogance. She can’t be right … and the entire world is wrong.
Her father, retired Congressman Lou Stokes – at this stage of his illustrious career — should be entitled to look back on a well-lived life of public service with a pride of accomplishment few who have ventured into the rough-and-tumble world of politics can match or hope to aspire to. All of the honors that have accrued to him — and his late brother Carl B. — are truly deserved.
But life sometimes has a way of throwing curve balls — even at a venerated retired congressman — and the controversy swirling around his daughter is one that few public figures in America have had to face. If ever there was a time for crisis management, this certainly is it.
While Judge Stokes has a right to due process (something the 49-page document lodged against her alleges she sometimes didn’t afford those who appeared in her courtroom), her prospects of prevailing against the charges — in spite of powerful family name and her father’s prodigious political power and connections — have to be viewed as slim to non-existent.
Nonetheless, Judge Stokes has the reputation of being a strong-willed individual, one not very amenable to taking advice … no matter how sagacious or well intended. So, even if her father (in concert with a team of top-flight legal advisors that he surely will consult) suggests that she not fight the allegations but instead quietly step down until the matter is adjudicated, she still might not take such advice and choose to engage in what will amount to a war she cannot and will not win. Pride, it’s often said, goes before the fall.
If the judge elects to take that ill-advised route, Congressman Stokes — in order to protect the carefully crafted reputation he currently enjoys — seemingly would have little choice but to publicly step away from his daughter in order to protect his and his brother’s legacy. But this would be a most difficult step for any father to take, and perhaps is one that might prove too distasteful for this octogenarian. I pray that his daughter does not force him into making such an unpleasant choice.
But legacy matters. And the Stokes legacy belongs to more than just the family that bears the name … it’s ours too. Every one of us ordinary, everyday black folk who, for almost half a century now, have beamed with pride with every accomplishment of the brothers Carl B. and Lou, and we have a legitimate stake in that legacy … since we rightfully are entitled to own a piece of it.
History, sadly, has a knack of focusing too much on how careers end, rather than what was accomplished over the long span of time, effort and service. And human nature being what it is, anything that hints of scandal can become the focus of attention and memory. Controversy often overshadows deeds — no matter how good they were when accomplished. As Shakespeare wrote, “… the good is oft interred with their bones.”
But we cannot get this controversy confused: In the end, this is not about protecting the daughter of a still politically powerful former congressman’s daughter, the family’s good name, or the brother’s storied legacy — it’s about assuring that when someone stands in front of the Bar of Justice they are going to be treated with dignity and respect … even if they are punished harshly for their misdeeds. This expectation is clearly not being met in Judge Stokes’ courtroom.
Under our system of justice there’s simply no room (or place) for even the hint of capriciousness when a citizen stands in front of a judge. The duty of insuring that the expectation of evenhanded treatment is fulfilled falls squarely (and fairly) on the shoulders of the Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court, and they have to discharge their obligation in a manner that upholds and preserves the public’s respect for the law and the Honorable Courts throughout Ohio.
While it’s reasonable to assume that insider, backroom, old-boy politics are assiduously being engaged in to salvage Judge Stokes’ career — after all … power isn’t possessed, it’s practiced — no amount of pressure (and no matter who applies it) should deter justice from taking its logical and inevitable course. The Supreme Court has to decide Angela Stokes’ case — and fate — based only on the merits of the evidence presented against her … and nothing else.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.
One Response to “MANSFIELD: Stokes vs. Ohio Supreme Court?”
Ralph Gardner
Mental illness is a disease that no one chooses to get and most often the person afflicted with it is unaware that are suffering with it until they are diagnosed and even then the person may not believe they are ill.
A friend’s relative has schizophrenia and after an episode she would have no memory of it and even though she had been diagnosed and prescribed medication she didn’t believe she was ill. She would stop taking the medication which would result in an episode and hospitalization for a month, this continued for years but around 8 years ago a once a month injectable schizophrenia medication was developed and since then she thankfully hasn’t had any episodes.