Hamilton County Judges Case

CASE PROBLEM: HAMILTON COUNTY JUDGES Hamilton County Judges try thousands of cases per year. In an overwhelming majority of the cases disposed, the verdict stands as rendered. However, some cases are appealed, and of those appealed, some of the cases are reversed. Kristen DelGuzzi of the Cincinnati Enquirer conducted a study of cases handled by Hamilton County Judges over a three-year period ( Cincinnati Enquirer, January 11, 1998 ). Shown in Table 2.5 are the results for 182,908 cases handled (disposed) by 38 Judges in Common Pleas Court, Domestic relations Court, and Municipal Court. Two of the judges (Dinkelacker and Hogan) did not serve in the same court for the entire three-year period. The purpose of the newspaper’s study was to evaluate the performance of the judges. Appeals are often the result of mistakes made by judges, and the newspaper wanted to know which judges were doing a good job and which were making too many mistakes. You have been called in to assist in the data analysis. Use your knowledge of probability to help with the ranking of the judges. You also may e able to analyze….. TABLE 2.5 CASES DISPOSED, APPEALED, AND REVERSED IN HAMILTON COUNTY COURTS Common Pleas Court Judge Fred Cartolano Thomas Crush Patrick Dinkelacker Timothy Hogan Robert Kraft William Mathews William Morrissey Norbert Nadel Arthur Ney, Jr. Richard Niehaus Thomas Nurre John O’ Connor Robert Ruehlman J. Howard Sundermann Ann Marie Tracey Ralph Winkler Total Total Cases Disposed 3,037 3,372 1,258 1,954 3,138 2,264 3,032 2,959 3,219 3,353 3,000 2,969 3,205 955 3,141 3,089 43,945 Appealed Cases 137 119 44 60 127 91 121 131 125 137 121 129 145 60 127 88 1,762 Reversed Cases 12 10 8 7 7 18 22 20 14 16 6 12 18 10 13 6 199

2|C AS E STU D Y - HA MI LTON C OUN TY JUD G ES

Domestic Relations Court Judge Penelope Cunningham Patrick Dinkelacker Deborah Gaines Ronald Panioto Total Total Cases Disposed 2,729 6,001 8,799 12,970 30,499 Municipal Court Judge Mike Allen Nadine Allen