FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Juvenile justice advocate and whistleblower judge cant get a fair trial in
Cincinnati, Ohio

During its 109 years of existence, the Hamilton County Ohio Juvenile Court has operated under
the control of the Republican Party. In 2012, Pastor Tracie Hunter, a public servant and attorney
for over 19 years, challenged the Republican controlled Juvenile Court by running for Judge.
Hunter wanted to challenge the courts history of disproportionate minority representation in
Hamilton County juvenile justice system. A practicing attorney for 19 years, Hunters
proficiency within the court system included criminal and civil representation of children and
adults who make up the minority population.
Judge Hunters professional life as a pastor and attorney gave her great insight on the injustices
committed in the courtroom when she provided legal services. Many of which were pro bono to
children who could not afford legal representation for minor offenses when they appeared before
the judges who often handed down harsh sentences over rehabilitation. Judge Hunter realized
that she could not continue to be a witness to the broken juvenile justice system in Hamilton
County, OH. She observed staggering numbers of youth who entered into a system now
identified as the school-to-prison pipeline.
What Judge Hunter witnessed was not just an illusion, but real racial disparities that subjected
80% of African American school aged children to the school-to-prison pipeline. Startling
statistics showed that between 2002 and 2004, among black juveniles, 16% of the youth
population had the misfortune of accounting for:
o 28% of juvenile arrest
o 30% of court referrals
o 37% of youth placed out of their home
o 34% of youth waived to adult court, and
o 58% of youth locked in adult prisons
Hunter is a pastor who is a leading voice within the Cincinnati community. She founded her own
urban Gospel radio station and is the CEO of Kingdom Life Ministries, where her compassionate
voice reached a wider segment of the minority population impacted by a partial justice system.
Judge Hunters background as a journalist, broadcaster, and practicing attorney, gave her the
skill-set to take on the role of being a change agent for children in Hamilton county. Her
goodwill led her to run for Juvenile Court Judge for Hamilton County, Ohio.
As Judge Hunter entered into the race to fight for the youth of Hamilton County, Ohio, no one
could have predicted that it would take a court battle against the Hamilton County Board of
Elections to secure her victory. Judge Hunter sued the Hamilton County Board of Elections for

voter suppression that cost the taxpayers $2 million dollars after numerous appeals by the
Hamilton County Board of Elections and Joe Deters who attempted to stop the count of votes.
Judge Hunter won her landmark case against the Hamilton County Board of Election where the
Sixth Circuit Court ruled that votes that were disqualified due to poll-worker error had to be
counted. She was declared winner and is the first elected African-American and Democrat
Juvenile Judge in Hamilton County, Ohio. After a victorious battle, Judge Hunter would finally
be able to provide a fair, balanced courtroom, and begin her efforts to reform the broken system
and rehabilitate the children who entered her courtroom. However, Judge Hunter would
eventually begin fighting for her own freedom as a consequence of exposing numerous
violations of civil, constitutional, and human right violations found in the Juvenile Court once
she finally took her seat as Judge.
Judge Tracie Hunter became a whistle blower last year, when she began reporting inaccuracies
and corruption in the juvenile court system. Judge Hunter spoke out in court Thursday saying, it
has become clear that I cannot get a fair hearing in Hamilton County. To date, the defense has
only received attendance records from the prosecutors office and none of the other documents
that were requested in their motion for discovery.
Thursdays discovery hearing was requested by Hunters attorney, Clyde Bennett II, during a
previous pretrial hearing on August 6th, after it became apparent that the prosecutors office did
not intend to turn over discovery evidence. Assistant prosecutor, Pamela Sears stated that the
court and Mr. Kissinger and staff has spent about 25 hours searching emails to determine which
we viewed as relevant and we are done doing that. She further concluded that I got three more
supeonas today, one of which I think weve already complied with, the second of which I think
we will comply with, and the third of which I have no intention to comply with. Refusing to
comply with a motion for discovery is a violation of Rules 16 and 17 of the Ohio Rules for
Criminal Procedure.
During the previous pre-trial hearing, on August 6th, Ms. Sears stated that the reason they would
not turnover requested discovery is because there was not enough time. Attorney Bennett
objected to this claim stating that these documents were requested months ago. According to
the Hamilton County Clerks website, discovery evidence was first requested by the defense
attorney on February 25th. Special prosecutors filed their motion for discovery on March 20th
and the defense attorney turned over documents on that same day.
Hunters supporters and several civil rights organizations have said that they have requested that
the Department of Justice intervene, as they believe that Judge Hunter cannot get a fair trial in
Hamilton County. So far, they say there has been no word on whether the Department of
Justice plans to get involved in what appears to be a retaliation effort against this whistleblower
judge.
Prosecuting attorney R. Scott Crosswell III stated that the Defendant in this case has established
a history of trying to manipulate and game the system. Crosswell expressed that he does not
believe that the defenses request for discovery evidence is a fishing expedition. Co-council for
the prosecution, Merlyn Shiverdecker, followed Crosswell with an explanation of why they felt
Judge Hunter was trying to manipulate and game the system. He explained that the defense

presented them with thousands of pages of documents that were not presented in chronological
order. He requested that Judge Norbert Nadel require the defense to put the documents in order
to make it easier for them to sort through the documents. Attorney Bennett objected to the
request and suggested that the special prosecutors grab a cup of coffee and roll up their
sleeves and get to work the same way he had in preparing for the defense. In a motion to dismiss
the charges against Judge Hunter in a previous pretrial hearing, attorney Bennett said that
attorneys Shiverdecker and Crosswell were prosecutor Joseph Deters personal attorneys and
were appointed by the the prosecutor and should not be allowed to bring these charges as this
presents a conflict of interest in the same way that Deters had to recuse himself for a similar
conflict of interest.
Nearing the end of the hearing Judge Nadel gave Hunter an opportunity to speak on Crosswells
claim that she was gaming the system. I would like to say very clearly to Mr. Croswell that
before I am Judge I am a Pastor of a Church, and I take great exception to your disparagement of
my name in this courtroom today. I am not sure about what you meant when you said this
defendant is gaming the system, but lets be clear here, the only gaming that is going on in
Hamilton County is by the Hamilton County Juvenile Court, Judge John Williams, Curt
Kissinger, and Connie Murdock. Addressing Crosswell directly, Hunter stated You were
very aware and you told my previous defense council that you knew that I did not backdate those
documents and you knew that I did not commit theft using my judicial credit card to take care of
official court business!.
Trial for Judge Hunter starts on September 8th. Nearly 15 of Judge Hunters supporter were not
allowed to enter the courtroom for Thursdays hearing, while half the courtroom remained empty.
Supporters say they were told that there was no more room in the courtroom, and when they
inquired about why half the seats in the courtroom were empty, they were told that the empty
seats were reserved for media. Only 5 media outlets signed requests for press passes. This
seems to be about average for Hunters previous court dates. For a complete case study, please
contact Vanessa Enoch at vanessa.enoch@email.myunion.edu or Cheri Franklin-Scott at
cheri.scott@email.myunion.edu.
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