Overview

Judge4Yourself.com is a service of the Judicial Candidates Rating Coalition, whose members are: The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association The Norman S. Minor Bar Association The Ohio Womens Bar Association The Cuyahoga Criminal Defense Lawyers Association The Asian American Bar Association of Ohio Dozens of lawyers and others from these groups volunteer up to 4 days every year to review candidates’ questionnaires, interview candidates, share information and develop candidate ratings. Click here to see a list of coalition participants. Some Coalition participants are self-employed or work in small firms. Others work for large firms, local companies or government. Our community representatives have worked with people or businesses that are affected by court decisions. All of us are independent. Our rules prohibit any participant from supporting a judicial candidate, and from participating in evaluations for a race that include their spouse or a candidate their spouse is supporting. We are also non-partisan in our ratings. We rate each candidate in every contested election according to the same criteria, regardless of the candidate’s party, and regardless of the endorsements the candidate may have received. Our Mission Our goal is to help Cuyahoga County voters elect good judges. Our ratings tell voters, in simple language, whether we think that a candidate will make a good judge. Our rating page links to a biography for every candidate we rate, and information about the state or municipal court where the candidates seek office. Although our perspectives vary, we agree that knowledgeable, fair, and respectful judges are essential for our community.