DAYTON — The Fraternal Order of Police filed a formal complaint against Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Dankof due to a picture in his courtroom that the FOP claims depicts bias against law enforcement.
>>NAACP working to increase voter turnout among Ohio’s black citizens
The photo hung in Dankof’s courtroom is a framed cover of a “New Yorker” magazine cover that depicts George Floyd and others.
The FOP complaint has reached an Ohio Supreme Court disciplinary committee for review, Dankof told News Center 7. Most complaints of this nature do not get released to the public, unless the Ohio Supreme Court finds probable cause to start an investigation, according to Dankof.
However due to questions from the public, Dankof said he is responding publicly.
“The FOP letter says that I have displayed ‘certain material’ in my courtroom that it considers detrimental to the court system,” Dankof said in a statement to News Center 7.
“The ‘New Yorker’ cover of Mr. Floyd in absolutely no way, in no way, displays or implies a bias against law enforcement. My extensive work and numerous writings as a judge on this court put the lie to this baseless claim,” Dankof said.
News Center 7 reached out and is awaiting response from an FOP spokesperson and Judge Barbara Gorman, the Presiding Judge of the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
We’ll continue to update this story as more details become available.
Cox Media Group
