Turner, Franzetta Darlene
Candidate for Cleveland Municipal Court Judge
Biographical Information
Address:
16401 Highview Drive
Cleveland, OH 44128
Current Occupation:
Magistrate with Cleveland Municipal Court
Education:
Syracuse University College of Law J.D. 1986; Allegheny College B.A. 1983; Glen Oak School 1979
Please answer the following questions in no more than 300 words.
1. Why are you the best candidate for office?
I am the best candidate for judge based on my professional and life experiences. As a magistrate for Cleveland Municipal Court for the past 11 years, I have presided over civil and criminal cases including criminal misdemeanors, traffic, small claims, garnishments, and post judgment motions. Several years ago, the judges appointed me Criminal Duty Magistrate, which allowed me to be the lead magistrate over the misdemeanor arraignment docket, a docket that the judges had previously handled themselves. When they created the Arraignment Courtroom Coordinator position, they again appointed me to that position and I began serving as a liaison with the Clerk’s office to ensure that the operations in the three arraignment courtrooms run smoothly. I am currently working with a Core Team comprised of Court and Clerk employees on the design and implementation of a new case management system. This twelve million dollar state of the art system will cause operations within the court to be more efficient and allow greater access to the public. Prior to coming to the court I served as a litigator for the City of Cleveland Law Department and the Ohio Attorney General’s office. For nine years I was a single mother. My son is nine and my daughter, who I adopted two years ago, is four. I was the caregiver for my father, who had emphysema, for 12 years. My brother spent many years of his life in prison and in constant need of alcohol treatment. So, my life experiences are not that different than the people that we serve, which allows me to be compassionate and at the same time, fair. When coupled together, my professional and life experiences uniquely qualify me for the position.
2. If elected or re-elected, what are your top three (3) priorities and why?
It is my desire that the court become more accessible to the people and the community that we serve. As the supervisor of the Interpreter’s Unit, I have witnessed the impact the interpreters have had in assisting non-English speaking defendants. We currently have three Spanish-speaking interpreters. There is a great need to also have a Sign language interpreter. The court would save money by having our own Sign language interpreter instead of using the services of a language bank. One of my priorities would be to employ a Sign language interpreter. Another priority would be to work closely with the Core Team to ensure that they remain on schedule so that the new case management system goes live early next year. This new system will advance the court technologically. The public will be able to access court dockets from home and pay tickets on-line. For people who do not have access to a computer system, they will find that the amount of time that they have to spend in the Justice Center will be greatly reduced because the operations will be so much more efficient. My third priority would be to create a Self-Help Center for people coming into Cleveland Municipal Court who do not have the assistance of an attorney. Many people come to court with little idea, if any, of what to expect. A Self-Help Center would be available to provide assistance to people who have to come to court. Although court employees cannot give legal advice, they can provide some assistance in terms of how people can prepare themselves before coming to court – they can give guidance on what people need to bring with them to court, who needs to come with them, and if they should consult with an attorney prior to coming.
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