Candace C Crouse

Question 1

List your judicial experience (courts and years)

Judge, First District Court of Appeals, since February 2019.

 

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Question 2

What non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?

During law school, I externed for the Honorable Algenon L. Marbley, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Ohio. I then spent the first two years of my legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of West Virginia. I was very privileged to have the opportunity to work closely with and learn from two intelligent, fair and dedicated trial court judges. During my two-year clerkship, Judge Stamp twice sat by designation on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, giving me the opportunity to experience judicial decision-making at the appellate level.

After my clerkship, I spent the next 16 years practicing law at small and medium-sized law firms in Cincinnati before eventually starting my own firm with four partners in 2013. Throughout my career as a practicing attorney, I litigated civil and criminal cases in state and federal court at both the trial and appellate levels. This experience brought me before many different types of judges - some good and unfortunately, some not so good. My years of practice have made clear to me how the system should work and what often happens when it fails. My experience has taught me that the law only works if you have smart, fair, and hardworking judges on the bench, who make reasoned, thoughtful, and timely decisions. Without someone able to sit in judgment with the patience and compassion to see both sides of an argument, the system fails.

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Question 3

Why are you running for this particular court seat?

I am running for reelection because I want to continue to my work to make the First District Court of Appeals the gold standard for how an appellate court should operate and serve those in the community. 

Since taking the bench, I have worked hard to make good on my 2018 campaign promises to improve the court’s transparency, efficiency, and accessibility. These improvements have included eliminating the court’s case backlog to ensure the timely resolution of cases, installing cameras in the courtroom so that oral arguments can be viewed online, and amending some of the court’s outdated and cumbersome local rules. I also oversaw the redesigning of the court’s website to make it easier for the public to navigate, and to include more helpful content, like a pro se litigant guide.

Our court has gone from using an inefficient case managment system and outmoded technology to being a technological leader of appellate courts in the state.

We also started a mediation program and hired a full-time mediator,  expanded our law school and undergraduate internship program, and engage in regular community outreach in order to educate the public about the court system.

I have been working hard to ensure that every litigant in the First District Court of Appeals experiences a fair, just, and impartial process and receives timely resolutions of their cases. I am always prepared for court and issue thoughtful, well-reasoned decisions. My colleagues recognized my hardwork and dedication to the court and elected me as the 2023 Presiding/Administrative Judge.

The public deserves a judge who remembers that their role is to serve the public. If reelected, that is what I will continue to do.

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