Rodgers pleaded guilty to knocking over a police officer while he was directing traffic.
She has failed to yield to a traffic signal to stop and not turn left. Her lawyer says that she was confused and Jackson Township officer Eric Martzolf was thrown on his back. Forcing citizens to cook for police officers is another example of a judge who panders to the public with sentences that seem “poetic justice.” Judges know that this type of punishment is hugely popular with the public. It is a trend that is erasing the line between entertainment and the law. There has been a continuing and growing trend of this type of abuse by judges. I have written columns (here and here and here) and blogs articles (here and here and here and here and here) criticizing this worrisome trend, though the most serious such cases involve judges like Norman who try to bring “more people to Jesus” while carrying out his duties as a judicial officer. These judges make a mockery out of our court system and sit like little Caesars in meting out their own idiosyncratic forms of justice — often to the thrill of citizens. They degrade not just their courts in such novel sentencing but the legal system as a whole. This judge appears to relish his reputation as the gavel of God — sending felons to embrace faith.
I could not find the judge’s actual credentials but I did find his bio on “Stark County’s Most Eligible Singles” where he identifies his look-alike celebrity as Hugh Grant. You can be the judge by clicking (here) whether he is the most eligible single but I would have to keep him off the list of most competent jurists.
I was able to find an article where Forchione was seeking the position on the basis of starting “Canton’s war on child truancy” as a prosecutor. He graduated from University of Akron Law School in 1986.
Source: Canton Rep as first seen on Reddit.