JCRC rates the judicial candidates so you can judge for yourself

Judge4yourself.com is a service of the Judicial Candidates Rating Coalition (JCRC). JCRC is made up of The Cleveland Bar Association, The Cuyahoga County Bar Association, The Cuyahoga Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, The Norman S. Minor Bar Association, and The Ohio Women's Bar Association.

This year, Cuyahoga County voters must choose judges for four different courts: the Court of Common Pleas General Division, the Domestic Relations Court, the Probate Court and the Court of Appeals. There are contested Democratic primaries for two Common Pleas races, two Probate Court races, one Domestic Relations Court race and one Court of Appeals race. There are no contested Republican primaries. You can see and print judge4yourself.com's ratings for candidates in these six contested races with one click on the blue Ratings button above, or the red Ratings button below.

Under the JCRC umbrella, members of the five JCRC organizations jointly interview each candidate and discuss the candidates and their qualifications. Dozens of experienced lawyers, including many who regularly practice in the court for which the candidate seeks office, participate in each interview and discussion. Several non-lawyer community representatives participate in the rating process as well.

In their deliberations, the five organizations evaluate the impartiality, integrity, temperament, diligence and professional competence of each judicial candidate and incumbent. Each organization uses standard terms - Excellent, Good, Adequate or Not Recommended - to express its views.  Please note that each organization within JCRC decides on its own ratings.

Our goal is to educate the voters of Cuyahoga County about qualified judicial candidates and eliminate the judicial election "guessing game" at election time. Our candidate ratings for past elections have been welcomed by voters and the press.

Members of the five organizations that make up JCRC are a diverse group of men and women, including lawyers and non-lawyers. We are professionals and retirees. Some practice solo or in a small group; others work for large firms, local companies or government. Some of us represent only individuals. Others usually work with businesses. We and our clients have many different perspectives and views, but there is one thing on which we agree - we want highly qualified, fair and respectful judges on our courts.

The election of judges and the decisions they make can have profound consequences for us, our families, our businesses and our community. In our society, judges have been given enormous power. Only a judge can decide whether a convicted criminal is imprisoned and whether a jury must decide a civil claim. 

We rate the judicial candidates...so you can judge for yourself.