By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

CLEVELANDis  Ohio- Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo, one of 34 largely White judges on the general division common pleas bench of the county, has died at 68-years-old after an undisclosed illness.

On  the common pleas bench since 2002, Russo died Monday surrounded by family, and funeral arrangements are pending, sources said. Per state law, Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, will appoint his successor until an election for the seat is held, Cuyahoga County  the second largest of Ohio's 88 counties, and a Democratic stronghold that includes the majority Black major American city of Cleveland.

Judge Michael Russo was one of three judges  on the bench with the last name Russo and the second Russo to die on the bench since the late judge Joseph Russo. He died in October of 2021, also of an undisclosed illness.

The other two Russo's on the general division bench are former chief and administrative judge John Russo, and controversial Judge Nancy Margaret Russo, the first of the four Russo's to be elected to the bench in the county, she often brags.

Black community activists of Cleveland as a whole do not like any of the judges Russo, saying they are all allegedly part of the old guard and the intrinsic corruption that plagues the court where Blacks are disproportionately indicted, prosecuted, sentenced and unfairly imprisoned, many of the convictions later overturned, data show, and usually after long term imprisonment and an uphill and costly legal battle Also at issue, say activists, are grand jury indictment fixing by prosecutors with the help of the county clerk's office, falsification, and  tampering with records to get illegal convictions and plea deals against Blacks. Another of several other problems, activists say, is the unconstitutional denial of indigent counsel to poor Black defendants who judges and prosecutors do not like  and want to control for political and other reasons aside from court proceedings.

Indigent defendants, Blacks included, have a statutory right under Ohio law, and a constitutional right under the U.S. constitution to appointed counsel in serious cases, and throughout the proceedings, up to and including at trial.  Public records show, however. that these statutory and constitutional guarantees are being grossly denied by common pleas judges of Cuyahoga County without repercussions, thus resulting in erroneous criminal convictions.

Chief Judge Brendan Sheehan, who replaced Judge John Russo as head judge and who will not publicly criticize his judicial colleagues for gross impropriety on the bench no matter what they do, including interfering with Black and other defendants' Civil Rights by blatantly denying them their statutory and constitutional rights, told reporters that Judge Michael Russo was a tenacious judge who "displayed amazing strength while fighting his illness."

Community activists undoubtedly say otherwise and want an overhaul of the county's common pleas bench, and a new county prosecutor, they say.

• Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

Pictured are minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries , a New York Democrat and the first Black to hold the post and to lead a political party in Congress, and  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who was ousted from his speaker's post on Tuesday

• By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief
• • WASHINGTON, D.C- Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Tuesday removed controversial House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his prestigious post , just days after Congress, on Saturday evening, passed a stopgap funding bill that averted a looming government shutdown ahead of a midnight deadline.
  • Whether McCarthy, a Republican, can gain the support needed to win back his post and exactly who, if anybody, will replace him as the powerful Speaker are questions that remain unanswered.

  
  

  What happens next  is anybody's guess relative to McCarthy and pending funding bills left unaddressed as Congress-members try to juggle their schedules and change previous commitments after being told to be on call.

  • The House  vote to oust McCarthy was 216-200, with eight Republicans and  all Democrats voting yes. Had just four congressional Democrats supported him, he would have beat the ouster attempt.
  • After weeks of political wranglings and divisiveness among Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Congress passed a stopgap funding bill Saturday evening and President Joe Biden signed the new law into effect late Saturday night
  • In a statement, the president, who is up for reelection in 2024,  said the stopgap bill was “good news for the American people.” “But I want to be clear: we should never have been in this position in the first place. "
  • "Just a few months ago, Speaker McCarthy and I reached a budget agreement to avoid precisely this type of manufactured crisis,” he said.
  • The Senate approved the stopgap measure after the House abruptly reversed course earlier in the day and passed the bipartisan  deal that cost McCarthy his Speaker's seat, McCarthy telling reporters prior to his ouster so what and that "Americans come first."
  • Among a host of other congressional  naysayers relative to the funding legislation, controversial  GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, who tendered the congressional motion to oust MCcarthy, told CNN Sunday that he' would  work hard to remove the Speaker from his leadership role this week, and he did just that.
  • House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black to hold such a leadership post with House Democrats, was no help either. He told House Democrats to vote against McCarthy, after the then Speaker blamed the now tabled government shutdown on House Democrats alone.
  • The stopgap bill, which funds the federal government until mid November, includes natural disaster aid, but funding for Ukraine, a sticking point for many congressional lawmakers across partisan lines who balked at various funding bills, did not make the cut. It  is expected to be voted on in coming weeks, absent a political stalemate.
  • Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Today, Senate Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) (pictured), a Lakewood Democrat who's 23rd state legislative district includes 14 of Cleveland.'s 17 wards.  released the following statement regarding the governor's decision to dissolve the Department of Education and replace its responsibilites under his purview, despite a court order blocking the move:

"I am disappointed to see these changes go forward, despite a Franklin County judge extending a temporary hold until noon Wednesday," said Antonio. "The decision to ignore the authority of the court is a dangerous precedent to set at a time when public trust in the institution of government is at an all-time low. Ohio's students and families deserve an organized and effective department and state board. Until the court decides how to proceed, the state should not interfere."

In September, members of the state Board of Education filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the K-12 education overhaul which passed as part of the state operating budget, House Bill 33. This provision of the operating budget was similar to Senate Bill 1, a politically motivated takeover of public education, transferring almost all powers of the democratically elected State Board of Education to the governor and the newly-created Department of Education and Workforce (DEW).

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.