East Cleveland Council President Lateek Shabazz is suing to stop Probate Court Judge Anthony Russo from naming an interim mayor of the financially troubled suburb.
Russo is accepting applications for the job after a panel of retired judges suspended Mayor Brandon King, who is fighting corruption charges. State law gives Russo the responsibility of picking an interim mayor under these circumstances.
But in a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court, Shabazz argued that East Cleveland’s charter should take precedence. The charter says the council president becomes mayor “in the case of death, resignation, removal or long-term absence.”
Law Director Willa Hemmons has her own claim to the throne: that her job is in the line of succession when the mayor is temporarily absent.
Typically, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor would defend the probate court’s legal rights in a case such as this. But Hemmons has already asked for a special prosecutor to step in.
She argued that Prosecutor Michael O’Malley’s office has a conflict of interest in that it is deeply involved in East Cleveland’s legal battles already. The prosecutor’s office, which charged King, was also appointed to litigate a complaint that Shabazz filed in probate court against the mayor last year.
Then another council member, Twon Billings, told the state’s high court that he should be considered the true council president. Billings, who previously served as council president, argued that council “unlawfully” gave the job to Shabazz. Billings contended that Shabazz isn’t eligible to be council president because he’s not an at-large council member.
O’Malley’s office told the court that it has no conflict of interest in the case and moved to dismiss Shabazz’s challenge to Russo’s appointment authority.
It will be up to the justices of the Ohio Supreme Court to untangle these legal knots. Best of luck.
Immigration and the Cuyahoga County Jail
Cleveland’s mayor has said that police will help federal immigration authorities only in cases that involve violent crimes. But what about the Cuyahoga County sheriff?
One way that sheriffs assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is by allowing the agency to arrest people who already have been detained on other charges. Before making such an arrest, ICE will lodge what’s called a “detainer” – a formal request by federal authorities to take custody of someone sitting in a local jail cell.
The Cuyahoga County Jail has not received any detainer requests from ICE this year, county press secretary Jennifer Ciaccia told Signal Cleveland on Jan. 31. She cited only one jail case from the last year involving someone who lacked legal status.
“Within the last year, only one inmate was received who was of undocumented immigration status,” Ciaccia wrote. “That inmate was arrested by an outside municipal law enforcement agency for a matter not related to citizenship or immigration status.”
The email did not say what local charges that person was facing. The county Sheriff’s Department does not have policies on the books related to immigration status, according to Ciaccia.
Newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi took steps this week to make sharing information with immigration authorities a requirement of certain U.S. Justice Department grants.
Meanwhile, Cleveland City Council this week shared a set of “know your rights” resources for people who may cross paths with ICE.
“What affects one, affects all,” Ward 14 Council Member Jasmin Santana said in a council news release. “We cannot and will not idly sit by as our neighbors, friends, and families face these threats.”
