Author Profiles

Jane Bond always wanted to write. But after earning a degree in Journalism from Ohio University, her life took another direction. As a single mom with two small daughters, she started law school in 1973 earning a law degree from the University of Akron in 1976. She started practicing law at a desk in the reception area of an Akron law firm at a time when women were uncommon and unwelcome as lawyers.

Then came the opportunity to become a Summit County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney. That led to an offer to become the first General Counsel to the Summit County Executive. This involved her in settling a federal lawsuit on jail overcrowding and helping to plan a new county jail. With that experience in jail planning, she was offered a job in Cleveland as corporate legal counsel and criminal justice planner for The Voinovich Companies. The work took her into jails and prisons all over the United States.

She decided serving in the courts could have a greater impact than planning.  She sought and received an appointment as Municipal Judge in the City of Akron.  After two years as a municipal judge, she was appointed to the Common Pleas Court in Summit County.  Now in an elected office with a six-year term, she was required to run for election after her appointment.  She won and then was re-elected to two more terms, retiring in 2007 after eighteen years on the bench.

During her service as judge, she presided over thousands of criminal and civil cases. One of her most challenging experiences had been presiding over a complex series of criminal cases that collectively became known as “The Escort Case.”  She drew on the facts of that case to write this compelling true story of the criminal justice system gone awry and the struggle to finally do justice.