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Judge D’Apolito plans to retire from common pleas court
RICHARD WEINER
Legal News Reporter
Published: March 1, 2018
Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Lou A. D’Apolito will retire at the end of this year, creating an open seat on that bench to be filled in the upcoming November election.
Judge D’Apolito has served in his seat for the last decade.
“It seems like the time went quickly,” he said. “It has been a nice journey.”
The judge will be 74 in April.
“It doesn’t feel that way,” he said. “I have good health and attitude, and a sense of humor doesn’t hurt. I’ve had good support from friends and family.”
Fellow Judge Maureen Sweeney will miss her colleague, she said.
“It has been an honor and a pleasure to have Judge Lou D’Apolito serve as a member of our bench,” she said. “Utilizing his vast knowledge of the law which he gained before becoming a judge, Judge D’Apolito contributed to every conversation, meeting and event he attended. Judge D’Apolito always has a smile and a kind word for everyone. He will be sorely missed. I can only hope he leaves me one of his beautiful plants!”
Judge Lou D’Apolito received his bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University and his juris doctorate from The University of Akron School of Law. He was first elected to the common pleas court in 2008 to an unexpired term that ended in 2012. He was then re-elected to his current term.
Before he became a judge, he was engaged in private practice in his own law firm. He said that he was “lucky enough to have a very successful law practice, and that the people here have given me the privilege and trust to serve as a judge. I have never forgotten that trust, and so I’ve conducted myself accordingly by doing the right thing and never getting off course. I was delighted to cap my legal career with this privilege.”
Judge D’Apolito’s overall view of the people who come before him is that “no one is treated any differently, no matter what size their wallet is or the color of their skin. Everybody gets a fair shake. That is American justice. If you maintain that, fairness follows and justice will be done.”
In his years on the bench, the judge said that while some of his views have changed many have remained the same.
In particular, he said that one case that he presided over changed his view of capital punishment.
According to contemporaneous new reports at the time, in 2012 a man named Jamar Houser was on trial for murder in a shooting at St. Dominic’s church.
“Everybody believed that the young man who was charged did it,” said Judge D’Apolito, who presided over the trial. Houser was about to be convicted. But new, last-second evidence pinned the murder on a person who was then deceased.
“The body was exhumed, and a palm-print matched a print at the scene of the crime,” said Judge D’Apolito. “Had that not happened, an innocent man may possibly have been sentenced to death. But justice was done and I’m happy about that.
“As I’ve grown older, I’ve adjusted my position on the death penalty and I’m of the opinion now that it may be better punishment to have life without the possibility of parole.
“That provides proper punishment and closure for the victim’s family. Once the state executes someone, there is no bringing him back if it turns out he was innocent.”
Judge D’Apolito also is of the opinion that the death penalty in Ohio will be nonexistent within the next few years.
“I think that this is the view of the majority of people,” he said.
One area in which the judge has never changed his views?
“I may have been ahead of the curve about drugs,” he said.
In his entire time on the bench, he said, he has viewed treatment as the proper response to illegal drug use, particularly in first-time offenders and young drug users.
“We spend far more money on drug offenders in the criminal justice system” than on medical approaches, he said. “It is one of the biggest problems in the criminal justice system.”
Another drug-related problem is the disparity between state and federal drug laws, particularly in the case of cannabis, he said. That drug is legal in various forms in a number of states, but is a Schedule 1 drug under federal law—the same as heroin.
“With marijuana issues, the state and federal governments have got to work together,” he said. “There must be a universal approach.”
While looking forward to retirement, Judge D’Apolito is not yet quite sure how he will be spending his time. He has not yet decided whether or not to become a visiting judge—or really much of anything about how his retirement is going to go, he said.
For the present, Judge D’Apolito would like to see the politicization of the justice system toned down, and less of an emphasis on money in society.
But for himself, he just simply said: “I tried to do my best and be a happy fellow.”