This is the FCB Podcast Network, This is the Judge. We have a very special guest on the show today. She is running for Cleveland Municipal Court judge Joanna Lopez and men. Welcome. How you doing good? Good? How are you? I'm good, I'm good. So first, let's let's start here because a lot of people probably don't know the difference or what the roles are. Talk a little bit about what kind of like what's the role of the Cleveland Municipal Court judge versus like a county judge. What are some of the things that you would be seeing should you make it on the bench. So, the Cleveland Municipal Court is responsible for all of the criminal cases that happen within the city of Cleveland that only rise to a misdemeanor level, whereas the Court of Common Please, they handle crimes and offenses that take place throughout the county, so all of Cuyahoga County, and they're dealing with felonies. And then in regards to the civil offenses, Cleveland Municipal Court has a fifteen thousand dollar jurisdiction and the Court of Common Please handles everything else. Okay, And so let's let's actually back up, a little bit, tell people a little bit about who you are, where you're from, a little bit of you, about your background, all that good stuff. Okay, So I am originally from Lorene, Ohio, but Cleveland has been my home since college. I went to Case Western Reserve University for undergrad and then I went straight to law school at CSU College of Law. I bought my home on the West Side and three in Ohio City, and I've made Cleveland my home. I became an assistant prosecutor for the City of Cleveland, so practicing in the Cleveland Municipal courts as an assistant prosecutor, and then I went to the county to be an assistant prosecutor. I practiced in the Juvenile Justice Unit, the General Felony Unit, and the Grand Jury Unit. And then I became a magistrate in the Cleveland Municipal Court General Division, and I did that for three years. Starting in March, I moved on to the Housing Division of the Cleveland Municipal Court. I have a husband, two children, a five year old son and a two year old daughter. I'm trying to stay active in the community. I am active in my Churchilia, where my elector a couple of times a month. I'm also on the board of directors for Catholic charities as well as the school boards for the intergenerational schools. Alright, awesome, So what made you would made you decide to run for the See why you want to be a man court judge? Okay, So I am one of the few people that kind of went to law school knowing that ultimately I wanted to be a judge. You have to have six years experience to be a judge. I have twelve years of experience, and I decided it was the time was now. Pinky car was removed from the seat, I decided to run in that race. I think it's really important that we have someone that's been a victim of crime, that's been the assistant prosecutor, that's represented a client in court, that's been the magistrate, and I've been all those things. I think it's really important that we have someone that treats everyone from the alleged victim to the defendant, from the assistant prosecutor to the public defender, to the court staff with dignity and respect. And that is what I would do. That is what I have done. I have a positive reputation amongst defense counsel, amongst public defenders. So many of them actually sign my petitions to be on the ballot for this election, and I just think we really need everyone to be responsible and do their research and make sure that they're voting for someone that has the experience that it's competent to practice in the Clevean Municipal Court. Because I've done it and I'm doing it. Let's talk about what you want to bring to the bench. Well, we need more diversity, right, and diversity is not just ethnicity, not just race. I am I identify as after a Latina. I'm young, I'm the youngest candidate of all all the candidates right now running for Cleveland Municipal Court judge. But what I bring to the table is one I'm bilingual. And that's while we have in court interpreters, um, it's really important that we have someone that actually understands when you know, this person does need a Spanish interpreter and may need some clarification while we're waiting on the interpreter to show up. So I bring that I understand the ins and outs of courts through my experiences. So as a magistrate, we oftentimes would be responsible for handling the arrayment docket. So that's when people come to court and are going to plead guilty or not guilty to traffic offenses. But because there's currently a shortage of prosecutors, oftentimes if a magistrate is assigned to that arrayment docket, no prosecutor is assigned to the docket. So as a result, all of these individuals come to court for their arrayment hearing, and if they are trying to resolve their case and want to plead to an amended charge, they don't have that option because a magistrate alone cannot laterally amend the charges. So as a result, all these individuals, if they want to resolve their case other than pleading guilty to the complaints, they have to get a continuance to come back to court on another day for a pre trial. That way, they'll have the benefit of speaking to a prosecutor who may offer some type of reduction. So as the result, these people are having to pay for parking again, they're having to get childcare again, they're having to take more time off of work. So what we need is more efficiency. So I plan on it when I'm assigned to the Raymond docket being there or in the alternative, fining another judge to handle that docket in my place. Yeah, And I mean that seems like that would be something, you know, really important and could slow the whole process down if people are not able to go to this process because and you said it's because that there's a shortage of prosecutors right now. It seems like since COVID everywhere, there's a shortage of staff and employees everywhere. There's just so much movement. I was an assistant prosecutor for the Clevean Municipal Court back then. It did not pay very well. I don't know what the pay is now, but we just there's just not enough to I guess, disperse assistant prosecutors to all the different courtrooms and what have you. So where the sacrifice is made is usually for the arrangement docket if it's a magistrate that is covering it. Wow. Wow, that's uh. I wasn't aware of that, and I think that's a piece of information that all the voters should know about for a lot of reasons. Obviously, So you mentioned that you are Afro Latina and talk a little bit about what that would be like to have that sort of representation on the bench should you get elected. When I'm sitting on the bench, I can tell oftentimes when people walk into the courtroom, they're surprised. They're surprised to see someone that looks like me, that looks as young as I do, sitting on the bench and wearing a rope. And I think they appreciate that, you know, I make the effort to pronounce their names correctly. I make I identify when there's a mistake on the ticket because for some reason, um not. A lot of people of Latino descent often have two last names, and for whatever reason, we make this assumption that the very last name is the last name that they want to go by, because that's how it is here. But oftentimes it's not the case. Sometimes, for whatever reason, the docket the names get switched and advertently the driver's acon says one thing, but all our court paperwork will the opposite. So I'm able to catch that and ask them, like, what is your last name? Like how is it supposed to be written? That sort of thing, And they recognize that and appreciate that, because it makes life more difficult when you're trying to find information about your own case, and how you know your name is is not coming up when you go to the computer and type that in, and it's because of an error that you didn't even cause. So I think I bring that to the table. I just and I think people just appreciate having someone that they can identify with in some aspects, like I'm going to treat everyone in that courtroom with dignity and respect and be fair despite their nationality, their race, their euthnicity or anything like that, but to be seen as a beacon of hope. And you walk into a courtroom and know that this person kind of looks like me, and based off of everything that I've witnessed by how she's treating everyone in that courtroom, she seems to be fair and she seems not to be passing judgment prematurely. Absolutely, absolutely, And um you know finally, the thing I love asking these questions, especially for people who come from the kind of background that you come from, the kind of background that I come from, because we know that representation matters. A friend of mine says, you can't be what you can't see, right, So it does matter. Representation does matter. What would you what would you say to someone a young woman who is who would like to follow in your footsteps. You've already accomplished so many great things and now you're running for judge. And what advice would you give someone who is looking to accomplish what you've accomplished and what you're accomplishing now. One thing I would like to say is one you have to dream big, but you can't leave it at dreaming. You have to write it down, make goals, and you're gonna get criticism, you're gonna get pushed back, but make a plan, and you know, set your mind on what you want to do, and make sure you do everything in your power to do it. Because once you get where you want to go, you can be the one that puts your hand back and reaches back to help others. And that's what I try to do. I try to mentor students, law students, college students, high schoolers, because there wasn't I didn't know any attorneys when I was younger. I did not decide to go to law school until I was pretty much realizing I'm about to graduate from college with a major and political science in Spanish minor and Ethnic studies and have no idea where I'm gonna go to work unless I go to grad school or law school. And then it went to law school, and it became very clear to me that I wanted to be a judge, and I thought being a magistrate first would help me get there. Absolutely, absolutely let everybody know how to follow you on social media if they want to get more information about the campaign. You got a campaign website, all that good stuff great, um, so you can find me I at www dot vote Joe Lowe in first two initials of each of my names, UM dot com. I also have a Facebook, UM Committee Toelect Joinna Lopez and men for judge, and I have Instagram, UM, Twitter, everything, but please remember my name Joanna Lopez and mean thank you Joanna Lopez, m man. Thank you so much for coming to the show to spending some time with us. We really appreciate you. Thank you so much for having me all right. This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network, where real talk lifts. Visit us online at FCB Podcasts dot com.
