This is the thirty-fourth of our Court Times articles that highlight up close and personal a member of the Indiana Judiciary.
Monroe Circuit Court Div. 5 Judge Mary Ellen Diekhoff is our judge featured in this issue.
Judge Diekhoff graduated from Valparaiso University in 1980 and then Indiana University Bloomington Mauer School of Law in 1986.
After a few years in private practice, she served as a Monroe County Deputy Prosecutor from 1989 to 2004. She was elected to serve as Monroe County Judge in November 2004 and began her judicial service in January 2005. She was re-elected in 2010 and her current term expires in December 2016.
Judge Diekhoff presides over a criminal docket, as well as two problem solving courts—Drug Treatment Court and Re-Entry Court. She serves on the Indiana Public Defender Commission. She is the chair of the District 10 Pro Bono Committee, and is chair of the Court Alchol & Drug Program Advisory Committee.
She is also an adjunct professor through the Criminal Justice Department at Indiana University and Mauer School of Law. Judge Diekhoff and her husband, Mike, have one daughter, Caitlin. They also own three shelter dogs: Hershey, Blake, and Emmett.
What do you like most and least about being a trial court judge?
I enjoy being in the courtroom and listening to the litigants. I get frustrated at the lack of resources available to assist individuals, especially in my problem-solving courts.
What was your major in college and why did you decide to study law?
I was a Sociology major. I grew up in northern Indiana and had never been to Indianapolis until an eighth grade school field trip. We visited the Statehouse, and I was awed by that building. I decided right then I wanted to be a lawyer.
What would you do if you were not a judge?
I would be a practicing attorney.
Who are the people you most admire?
I admire anyone who is committed and passionate about making a difference for others.
What are your hobbies or favorite leisure activities?
I read, I walk 4 or 5 miles daily, and I love to attend my daughter’s musical performances.
What are your favorite books, and have you read any recently, or are reading now, that you would recommend?
My favorite books would be far too numerous to mention! I am usually reading 3 or 4 books at the same time. I just read Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. Contrary to some of the negative reviews it has received, I would highly recommend it.
Where did you grow up and how would you describe your childhood?
I grew up in Gary, Indiana, raised by a single mother. I worked summers in the steel mill to pay for college. That experience has benefited me greatly in my legal career.
Do you have a favorite quote(s)?
“The credit belongs to those people who are actually in the arena…who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions to a worthy cause; who at best, know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
Where is your favorite vacation spot?
Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.
Do you have a favorite meal, recipe, and restaurant?
My favorite recipe and/or meal is anything that has blueberries in it!