Akron Law is proud of the more than 80 women alumni who have served or currently serve as judges, mostly in Northeast Ohio. As Judge Saundra Robinson’s 1990 upset win revealed, voters—especially women voters—tend to prefer women judges. And women vote at a higher rate than men. In Summit County, all 14 judges are women. So are all five in Portage County. In Stark County, it’s seven of nine, and it’s two of four in Medina County.
“My view is that women tend to take up the peacemaker/problem-solver role in the law and judging naturally engages that perspective,” observed retired Akron Law professor Margery Koosed.
Nearby are group photos of alumni judges serving on the bench in the Summit County courts and the Akron Municipal Court. Some other women alumni judges in the Akron area not pictured include: Judges Betty Sutton, Jill Flagg Lanzinger, and Donna Carr, Ninth District Court of Appeals; Judge Katelyn Dickey, Seventh District Court of Appeals; Judge Becky Doherty, Portage Common Pleas Court; Judge Paula Giulitto, Portage County Domestic Relations Court; Judge Joyce Kimbler, Medina County Common Pleas Court;, Ninth District Court of Appeals; Judge Melissa Roubic, Portage County Municipal Court; Judge Julie Schafer, Medina County Domestic Relations Court; and Judge Diana Stevenson, Barberton Municipal Court.
Left to right: Summit County Court of Common Pleas Judges Susan Ross Baker and Joy Malek Oldfield, Summit County Probate Judge Elinor Marsh Stormer, Court of Common Pleas Judge Alison Breaux, and Summit County Domestic Relations Judge Kari Harvey Hightower.
Left to right: Akron Municipal Court Judge Nicole Walker, Summit County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands, Summit County Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio, Municipal Court Judge Annalisa Stubbs Williams, Common Pleas Judges Kathryn Michael and Christine Croce, and Domestic Relations Court Judge Katarina Cook.