Pinkey Carr Removed

Pinkey Carr, a Cleveland Municipal Court judge, was immediately removed from office and indefinitely suspended from practicing law by the Ohio Supreme Court on October 18, 2022, over what the court called "unprecedented" misconduct. The court's opinion documented more than 100 individual incidents spanning roughly two years, describing a "blatant and systematic disregard of due process, the law, court orders, and local rules."

Findings included repeated dishonesty, disrespectful treatment of court staff and litigants, and abuse of her power to issue arrest warrants and hold people in contempt — including holding hearings while the court was officially closed during March 2020 and issuing bonds ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 in a manner the court said effectively created "a modern-day debtors' prison."

The opinion also cited her wearing inappropriate courtroom attire, including tank tops, graphic t-shirts, spandex shorts, and sneakers, and presiding in a manner one account described as "befitting a game show host." To be reinstated to practice law, Carr must submit a report from a qualified healthcare professional confirming she is able to return to competent, ethical, and professional legal practice, and may not reapply for two years. She resigned following the suspension and removal.

Separately, following an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation probe, Carr pleaded no contest to three counts of criminal falsification for conducting arraignment hearings without a prosecutor present and making false statements in court records on three dates between May 2019 and June 2020. A visiting judge found her guilty and sentenced her to four months of probation and court costs in September 2023.