CLEVELAND — In Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, there’s one judge who’s been serving the public for years and is the first Egyptian-American to do it.
To be a good judge, a person needs to be impartial, reasonable and knowledgeable about the law, all of which colleagues said Judge Sherrie Miday portrays on a daily basis.
“It’s somebody that you should be glad to be in front of, be honest with that judge, if you're honest with that judge, that judge will be honest with you,” said Judge William T. McGinty, a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge.
Miday's impact goes beyond that; she's also the first elected Egyptian-American judge in US courts.
“To get elected by the people of Cuyahoga County, it's a huge sense of pride. I don't like to focus on being the first; I like to say that I’m the first of hopefully many,” said Miday.
Midday is a mom of three who was born and raised in Cleveland just two years after her parents immigrated from Cairo in 1975. She studied undergraduate at John Carrol University and then went to Case Western for law school. Midday became an attorney, practicing civil and criminal for more than a decade.
Then, in 2014, she ran for judge, gathering support not just from the Egyptian-American community but also from the Arab-Americans in Cuyahoga County. That year, she lost.
“I had challenges based on my ethnicity. People are afraid sometimes of the unknown, and we're not a very large community in Cuyahoga County,” said Miday.
Then in 2016, she ran again, this time making history.
“She had to work for where she's at. She had to make connections, meet with people, talk to people and be herself every time that she did that. And she has accomplished that. That was beautiful,” said McGinty.
Midday described that win as an accomplishment bigger than her.
“It's a sense of pride, not just for me personally but for my community and my family,” said Miday.
She would then go on to handle criminal and civil cases in Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court and develop a high-risk domestic violence docket that she’s very proud of.
“We address issues of intimate partner violence, work with offenders to change behaviors and identify where this violence is coming from, and also work on a parallel track with victims of domestic violence, to get them the resources in the treatment and recovery that they need to be in a healthy relationship,” said Miday.
Miday is humbled and takes pride in serving her community inside and outside the courtroom.
“We have a seat at the table and that means so much, more than just the role in the position that I hold,” said Miday.
She just hopes the path she’s created can show other women there’s a path for them, too.
“Know that you can achieve anything that our male counterparts can achieve, and you can make history too,” said Miday.
