What We Consider in Our Ratings
The rating that a Judge4Yourself.com organization gives a candidate expresses that organization’s opinion of the candidate’s likely performance as a judge in the court that the candidate wants to serve. Each Judge4Yourself.com organization rates candidates on the criteria of integrity, temperament & demeanor, diligence, and professional competence for the position sought. We rate each candidate individually and on each of these criteria. Our ratings take into account the candidate’s answers to our questionnaire, an interview of the candidate in which representatives of our participating organizations participate, as well as other information, including information provided by disciplinary authorities. The Coalition also conducts a membership survey of each participating Bar Association, soliciting members’ views on the same criteria used by the Coalition. A reporting team is assigned to each contested race and prepares an individual report on each candidate in that race. Reporting teams gather relevant information from available sources, including membership surveys, public records responses, disciplinary authorities, and other sources. As appropriate, reporting teams may also identify attorneys or other individuals with personal knowledge of a candidate and seek additional information through interviews. Following its investigation, the reporting team submits its written report to the Coalition. For candidates who commit to participating in an interview, the report will be provided to the candidate in advance of the interview. Candidates will be rated based on the information available to the Coalition, even if they do not submit a questionnaire or participate in an interview. We take a close look at whether a candidate’s qualifications are a good match for the particular court he or she wants to serve. For more detail on our criteria, click here. We ask all candidates in contested races on the ballot in Cuyahoga County to participate in our process.
The Rating Terms
Each organization gives every candidate one of the following ratings:
- Excellent: This rating means that the Candidate exceeds most or all of the criteria expectations.
- Good: This rating means that the Candidate exceeds some of the criteria expectations.
- Satisfactory: This rating means that the Candidate meets the criteria expectations.
- Not Recommended This rating means that the Candidate does not meet the criteria expectations.
- “Preferred” Rating – Our organizations rate each candidate on his or her own merits. But the rules of three Judge4Yourself.com organizations give them the option use the term “preferred” for one candidate in a race in which the organization rated all candidates equally.