In 1943 one author described the foyer, or grand central hall, of the Cuyahoga County Court House as “very impressive with its marble columns and ornate archives. High above it is the vaulted roof of English stained glass.” The same commentator also wryly observed that some of the lovely ionic columns were practically obscured by a series of booths where the windows were inscribed with the words “Pay taxes here.” 

Entering the The plaque over the middle arch reads: “And the rule of the law is preferable to that of any individual,” this quotation attributed to Aristotle. On the Foyer’s south side are three arches and a similar plaque over the center arch bears this sentiment: “Nullus Liber Homo Aliquo Modo Destruatur-Nisi Per Legals Judicium Parium Suorum Aut Per Legem Terrae.” This has been translated as “No freeman shall in any manner be made to suffer corporal hurt except by legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.”