Girard's council members should take judge to court

In December, Girard Municipal Court Judge Michael Bernard took his ongoing financial battle with city council -- and by extension, with the mayor -- to the 11th District Court of Appeals. It isn't surprising that Bernard is seeking the intervention of the higher court.
After all, the Ohio Supreme Court has all but given judges carte blanche when it comes to their operating budgets. The high court has said, in effect, that so long as a judge believes his or her request for funding from the legislative branch is reasonable, lawmakers have no power to withhold money.
But Bernard's latest clash with city council may have opened the door to a new issue that even the Supreme Court -- it gets its money from the General Assembly, which is why it insists on the divine right of judges -- may be hard-pressed to ignore.
Last Wednesday, the municipal court judge informed council President Reynald Paolone that council could no longer meet in the new court facility. He said that personal attacks on the court led to the ban.
If ever there were a case of black robe fever, this is it.
While it is true that courtroom bears the name of his father, Anthony Bernard, who had served for many years as the city's judge, the municipal court does not own the building. And, Judge Michael Bernard does not have the right to ban legitimate public business from being conducted in the facility as long as it does not conflict with the court's schedule.
Financial crisis
Mayor James Melfi, who has long decried Bernard's refusal to agree to budget cuts that all other departments and agencies have absorbed in the midst of the city's financial crisis, and lawmakers, who have been unceremoniously kicked out of the court, should not roll over. They should take the issue all the way to the Supreme Court, if it comes to that.
This isn't about second-guessing a judge on the issue of the appropriate level of funding to ensure the proper administration of justice. Nor it is about the legislative and executive branches of government blurring the lines of separation with the judiciary. It's about Bernard, who sees himself as judge and jury in his dealings with the other two branches.
It is revealing that the building which houses the court also is home to the Girard Police Department. In other words, it was built with general fund money, which, according to the mayor, helped push the city into fiscal emergency.
If it were a stand-alone courthouse constructed with money generated by the court, then perhaps Bernard could argue that he is lord and master of the domain. But, as the ongoing budget battle between the court and the mayor and city council demonstrates, Judge Bernard cannot operate without a major infusion of general fund dollars. That makes him no better or no worse than any other officeholder in the city of Girard.