Cleveland Scene

BENCH WARMERS

How some "retired judges" make an awful nice living

By David W. Martin

Of course, if Chinnock had not taken ill and had stood for election, he would have run the risk of losing his eligibility to work as a retired judge. Retired judges must have left the bench on their own terms, not the voters'. There are ways around this rule. Curran, for instance, was appointed by Governor Bob Taft to the Eighth District Court of Appeals for a term that lasted four days.

Whatever the circumstances of Chinnock's retirement, as a visiting judge, he displays the energy of a man half his age. In 1999, for instance, he reported working 29 of July's 31 days. All but two of those days, he toiled on behalf of HarrisonCounty, which is 130 miles from Westlake, Chinnock's then-city of residence. (He now lives in Avon.)

July 4, 1999, was a rare day of recorded rest for Chinnock. He's been known to work on Independence Day. And Memorial Day. And Labor Day. And Thanksgiving Day. Chinnock's past reimbursement forms show several entries for days the courts were closed, according to the research of David Palmer, a self-appointed judicial watchdog in Columbus. Palmer found that in 1999 and 2000, Chinnock was paid $24,000 in per diems for work he supposedly performed on weekends and government holidays.

"Somebody ought to sue the Supreme Court for working these guys so hard," Palmer says in jest. "Maybe I'll contact the AARP."

Chinnock, of course, could have read briefs and written opinions on all those Saturdays. Law librarians attest to his diligence. He wrote an opinion in a contempt case that takes up 40 pages in a law review. "I am a very intensive researcher of the law," Chinnock says. "When I research a case, I dig out all the facts and all the law."

Still, Chinnock and his ilk so infuriated Palmer that in 2001 he filed criminal theft-in-office complaints against nine retired judges. The charges were thrown out, but not before several judges returned more than $7,000 in daily stipends. (Chinnock's contribution totaled $800.) Also, Chief Justice Moyer asked the auditor to review the way retired judges were paid. Now, retired judges can no longer collect a full day's pay for 10 minutes of work. "You don't want to work eight hours? They're hiring greeters at Sam's Club," Palmer sniffs.

Chinnock ranks No. 2 on Palmer's list of abusers, with the highest dishonors going to Stephen Yarbrough, a retired judge from the Toledo area. Palmer claims he caught Yarbrough billing 34 hours in one day. Yarbrough eventually returned nearly $4,000, though his attorney insisted, "He was the busiest judge in the state."

Chinnock visits mainly in Lake, Medina, Summit, and Pike counties. Seldom has he worked in CuyahogaCounty, a fact Chinnock attributes to "political problems." It figures that the county bureaucracy would not go out of its way to employ a Republican convert. But one local attorney guesses that more than partisanship keeps Chinnock from the JusticeCenter. "My suspicion would be the judges here know that he would be too flamboyant," says the attorney, who asked not to be named.

Chinnock is certainly not timid. He twice made national headlines while subbing in FranklinCounty. In a custody matter, he forbade anyone from smoking around an eight-year-old girl -- even though smoking hadn't been an issue between the estranged parents. Chinnock made it so, citing evidence of the harm posed by second-hand smoke.

In another case, he jailed a divorced man for contempt of court. Dennis Caron had withheld support of a child he insisted he did not father. Caron and his ex-wife eventually settled. Days later, however, Chinnock ruled that the agreement did not satisfy the interests of the child or the state, and jailed Caron "to send an unequivocal message" to fathers who do not abide court orders.

Chinnock is proud of the ruling. He notes that the putative father had filed numerous lawsuits, and his case had bounced from judge to judge. "I made lemonade out of a lemon," he says.

Not everyone in Columbus proclaims Chinnock a hero, however. Attorneys there say Chinnock is bright and personable, but his lax approach to procedure (neglecting to swear in witnesses, for example) made for occasional appeals. Attorneys describe instances when he rushed to proceed, despite all parties not being present.

Once a frequent sight in FranklinCounty, Chinnock now takes no new cases there ("Mutual decision," says Cinda Nichols, the commissioner of domestic and juvenile courts). He is welcome in other places. Chinnock earned more than $50,000 in the first seven months of this year. Indeed, flamboyance has its rewards. Chinnock is known for a willingness to take dreaded cases, such as the ones where judges are asked to revoke parental custody. "He does a good job," says Cheryl Goldstein, SummitCounty's civil administrator. "All the visiting judges do."

Voters and taxpayers will have to take her word for it. Until he turns 80, the age of mandatory retirement, Chinnock is free to work, unelected and accountable only to a few court administrators. "We kind of play the cards we're dealt," says Douglas Stephens, the Supreme Court's director of judicial services. "He was made a judge by appointment; so as far as we're concerned, he's a judge in good standing until somebody tells us otherwise."