Retiring Judge Cronin praised

It’s time for a third career, the common pleas judge and former social worker said.

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Judge Maureen A. Cronin’s colleagues in the legal profession expressed admiration for her judicial performance after she announced her retirement from the bench, effective July 1.

Judge Cronin, 53, of Canfield Road, announced her retirement as a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge Tuesday, saying she wants to explore other opportunities, such as being a visiting judge, assisting in a mediation program, teaching or seeking other elected offices. Gov. Ted Strickland will appoint someone to succeed her until next year’s general election.

“She has been a very successful lawyer and a great example for women in the Mahoning Valley,” Judge Maureen A. Sweeney, the court’s administrative judge, said of Judge Cronin, who was the first woman to serve as Youngstown prosecutor and Mahoning County Common Pleas judge.

“She’ll be sorely missed. She was a great mentor when I first took the bench [in mid-2004],” Judge Sweeney said. “She’s a good friend and a learned colleague. She always has good advice for me and for the other judges.”

Timothy Franken, chief trial lawyer in the county prosecutor’s office, said, “She’s a judge that I enjoy trying cases in front of. She’s experienced. She’s able to get the work done and make the tough decisions.”

Prosecutors respond

“There’s going to be a void. The way that she brings justice is unique, and it’s interesting and it’s fair,” said Michael McBride, an assistant county prosecutor.

McBride, who regularly prosecutes cases in Judge Cronin’s court, said the judge’s practical experience as a county Children Services Board social worker gives her “a more holistic understanding of crime” and its origins.

“She’s tough, and she does what she has to do, and she also understands where crime comes from,” said McBride, who first met the judge in 1991, when he was a city hall intern and she was city prosecutor.

“She brought some humor. She brought a lot of practical experience to the bench. In all my dealings with her, she was very fair and very civic-minded,” said Atty. Charles Dunlap, a lawyer for 30 years, who does criminal defense and civil work, and whose office is in Canfield.

“There comes a time and place where there’s an opportunity for a third career,” Judge Cronin said, noting that she has been in public employment for 30 years.

“I now see the younger people coming forward, and the technology has advanced so much that it would sort of be nice to have someone that has insight to how technology impacts the court come along and take over,” she said, noting that she has seen considerable office and computer technology upgrades in the court in her 13 years as a judge.

“I think it’s just time for a new face and some new blood,” she said.

Finishing

Judge Cronin said she will finish as many cases as she can before July 1 and ask the Ohio Supreme Court for permission to return after her retirement to finish cases in which she has already made evidentiary rulings, rather than turning them over to a new judge.

Judge Cronin said she wants all parties to cases in her court to believe “they were treated fairly and impartially, regardless of the outcome. That’s what I try to do with every case.”

Although she didn’t specify what elected office she might seek, Judge Cronin said she has no interest in running for an appellate judgeship.

Judge Cronin is known as an outspoken, plain-talking and sometimes controversial figure. In 1998, her name appeared on an Internet hit list posted by an anti-abortion group because of her prosecution of abortion clinic protesters in 1990.

As a public official, she said, “You’re going to make some people really happy and make some people really unhappy, and that goes with the territory. If you don’t have the guts to stand up to that, then you shouldn’t be in this position.”