Ohio Judge Removed From Bench for Running ‘Debtors’ Prison’

A longtime Ohio judge was ordered off the bench on Tuesday and had his law license suspended for a year and a half, with six months stayed, after the state Supreme Court found he ran what was akin to a “debtors’ prison” while presiding over misdemeanor cases.

Stow Municipal Judge Kim Hoover acted “with bias toward socioeconomically disadvantaged people and failed to act in a manner that guaranteed them due process under the law,” Justice Patrick F. Fischer wrote. As a result, two people were wrongfully jailed and 14 others were coerced into paying fines with the threat of ...