RBP
11-01-2014, 02:00 PM
This is what I am dealing with living in Cook County, Illinois (where Chicago is). It's so bad, the Republicans don't even bother to offer candidates.
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Voters in Cook County will find the usual sea of judicial candidates on the ballot in the Nov. 4 election. Here's the maddening thing: You'll find more than 80 candidates seeking election or retention, but you'll have few chances to affect the outcome.
The Republican Party didn't bother to put up candidates in the countywide elections, so the Democrats are guaranteed to win.
And the 72 judges seeking retention? Judges almost never lose a retention vote because the Democratic Party supports them, good record or bad. This year, the two major bar organizations didn't agree on any judge that should be removed, so those 72 judges have an extra layer of protection.
Does this signal that Cook County's court system has a blue-ribbon bench? No, the court system has some deep-seated problems.
Last year, the Illinois Supreme Court sent a review team to figure out how to unjam the backlog of inmates awaiting trial, sometimes for years. We're still waiting for Chief Judge Timothy Evans to act on its recommendations. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has been sharply critical of the operation of the court system.
Anyone who deals regularly with the civil side will tell you it's a long, expensive haul, too.
The Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Council of Lawyers and other bar groups perform a valuable public service by screening and rating judicial candidates. The Tribune relies on their work and our own research, which includes discussions with judges and lawyers who know these candidates.
The evaluations are a voter's best guide to the long list of unfamiliar names at the bottom of the ballot. But this year's results are unusual.
Typically, the bar associations identify a handful of egregiously incompetent judges.
Think Cynthia Brim. Two years ago, bar associations called for a "no" vote to retain Brim after she was charged with misdemeanor battery on a sheriff's deputy. The day before that incident, she'd been removed from her courtroom after a bizarre rant from the bench. She'd been suspended from her job — and banned from the courthouse — for eight months before the election. She was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Many voters took note: Brim got 183,000 more "no" votes than the (qualified) judge above her on the ballot. But she still collected more than the 60 percent "yes" vote needed to keep her seat. That's typical, too.
Bar groups had recommended a "no" vote on Brim in retention elections in 2000 and 2006, too, but it took the Illinois Courts Commission to remove her from the bench.
Cook County voters haven't removed a sitting judge since 1990, though many have surely deserved it.
This year, the Chicago Bar and the Council of Lawyers each found one sitting judge not worthy of another six-year term. But they didn't agree on either one.
Several people told us that this "class" of judges, last evaluated in 2008, has relatively few low performers. In 2008, the Tribune recommended a "no" vote on four judges based on the bar evaluations. Two of them — Judge Casandra Lewis and Judge Evelyn B. Clay — are still around and performing adequately, if not to rave reviews.
That's not something to celebrate after 12 and 18 years on the bench. But it's what you get from a system in which judges are elected — often running unopposed — after being slated by Democratic leaders. It's what you get when Republicans put up no candidates at all. It's what you get when voters are asked to make an up-or-down call on 72 sitting judges who aren't even listed in alphabetical order.
There's no Cynthia Brim among the judges seeking retention this year.
Judge Thomas Flanagan, who hears civil trials in the Law Division, was not recommended by the CBA because of "concerns about the judge's ability to make decisions in a timely manner on motions and complex issues and to efficiently manage a trial call." There's a lot of that going around. But the Council of Lawyers, the Illinois State Bar Association and nine smaller bar groups recommended a "yes" vote on Flanagan. Lawyers and judges we talked to essentially shrugged: Flanagan is not a bad judge.
The Council of Lawyers says Judge Annie O'Donnell, is "unduly flip, sarcastic and rude." O'Donnell, who presides over preliminary hearings, has been criticized for refusing to assign a public defender to some defendants without taking the necessary steps to determine whether they were indigent. The chief judge has since issued a general order spelling out the process. The ISBA and three smaller bar groups joined the council in recommending against her. Based on our research and those evaluations, O'Donnell warrants a "no" vote on retention.
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There are only two contested races for 26 vacancies on the circuit court and three vacancies on the Illinois Appellate Court. Those are in the west suburban 4th subcircuit and the north and northwest suburban 12th subcircuit.
In the 4th subcircuit (Billik vacancy), Democrat John J. Mahoney of Oak Lawn is endorsed over Republican Ian Brenson, an attorney from La Grange. Mahoney supervises the public corruption and financial crimes unit of the Cook County state's attorney's office, was a lead prosecutor in the felony trial division and has wide experience as a litigator. He earned superior ratings from the CBA and the council. "Mr. Mahoney is well regarded for his knowledge of the law, legal ability, fine demeanor and temperament," the CBA says. The CBA found Brenson qualified but noted his "limited jury trial experience." He did not participate in the council's evaluation.
In the 12th subcircuit (Jordan vacancy), Democrat James L. Kaplan, who was appointed to the bench in 2010, is endorsed over Republican James Paul Pieczonka, who got negative ratings from the council and the CBA. Both candidates are from Glenview.
You'll see a number of unopposed candidates who were found not qualified by one or more bar associations, but those candidates are beyond the reach of voters for now. We can't wait to read the ratings when they run for retention in 2020.
================================================== ============
Voters in Cook County will find the usual sea of judicial candidates on the ballot in the Nov. 4 election. Here's the maddening thing: You'll find more than 80 candidates seeking election or retention, but you'll have few chances to affect the outcome.
The Republican Party didn't bother to put up candidates in the countywide elections, so the Democrats are guaranteed to win.
And the 72 judges seeking retention? Judges almost never lose a retention vote because the Democratic Party supports them, good record or bad. This year, the two major bar organizations didn't agree on any judge that should be removed, so those 72 judges have an extra layer of protection.
Does this signal that Cook County's court system has a blue-ribbon bench? No, the court system has some deep-seated problems.
Last year, the Illinois Supreme Court sent a review team to figure out how to unjam the backlog of inmates awaiting trial, sometimes for years. We're still waiting for Chief Judge Timothy Evans to act on its recommendations. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has been sharply critical of the operation of the court system.
Anyone who deals regularly with the civil side will tell you it's a long, expensive haul, too.
The Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Council of Lawyers and other bar groups perform a valuable public service by screening and rating judicial candidates. The Tribune relies on their work and our own research, which includes discussions with judges and lawyers who know these candidates.
The evaluations are a voter's best guide to the long list of unfamiliar names at the bottom of the ballot. But this year's results are unusual.
Typically, the bar associations identify a handful of egregiously incompetent judges.
Think Cynthia Brim. Two years ago, bar associations called for a "no" vote to retain Brim after she was charged with misdemeanor battery on a sheriff's deputy. The day before that incident, she'd been removed from her courtroom after a bizarre rant from the bench. She'd been suspended from her job — and banned from the courthouse — for eight months before the election. She was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Many voters took note: Brim got 183,000 more "no" votes than the (qualified) judge above her on the ballot. But she still collected more than the 60 percent "yes" vote needed to keep her seat. That's typical, too.
Bar groups had recommended a "no" vote on Brim in retention elections in 2000 and 2006, too, but it took the Illinois Courts Commission to remove her from the bench.
Cook County voters haven't removed a sitting judge since 1990, though many have surely deserved it.
This year, the Chicago Bar and the Council of Lawyers each found one sitting judge not worthy of another six-year term. But they didn't agree on either one.
Several people told us that this "class" of judges, last evaluated in 2008, has relatively few low performers. In 2008, the Tribune recommended a "no" vote on four judges based on the bar evaluations. Two of them — Judge Casandra Lewis and Judge Evelyn B. Clay — are still around and performing adequately, if not to rave reviews.
That's not something to celebrate after 12 and 18 years on the bench. But it's what you get from a system in which judges are elected — often running unopposed — after being slated by Democratic leaders. It's what you get when Republicans put up no candidates at all. It's what you get when voters are asked to make an up-or-down call on 72 sitting judges who aren't even listed in alphabetical order.
There's no Cynthia Brim among the judges seeking retention this year.
Judge Thomas Flanagan, who hears civil trials in the Law Division, was not recommended by the CBA because of "concerns about the judge's ability to make decisions in a timely manner on motions and complex issues and to efficiently manage a trial call." There's a lot of that going around. But the Council of Lawyers, the Illinois State Bar Association and nine smaller bar groups recommended a "yes" vote on Flanagan. Lawyers and judges we talked to essentially shrugged: Flanagan is not a bad judge.
The Council of Lawyers says Judge Annie O'Donnell, is "unduly flip, sarcastic and rude." O'Donnell, who presides over preliminary hearings, has been criticized for refusing to assign a public defender to some defendants without taking the necessary steps to determine whether they were indigent. The chief judge has since issued a general order spelling out the process. The ISBA and three smaller bar groups joined the council in recommending against her. Based on our research and those evaluations, O'Donnell warrants a "no" vote on retention.
•••
There are only two contested races for 26 vacancies on the circuit court and three vacancies on the Illinois Appellate Court. Those are in the west suburban 4th subcircuit and the north and northwest suburban 12th subcircuit.
In the 4th subcircuit (Billik vacancy), Democrat John J. Mahoney of Oak Lawn is endorsed over Republican Ian Brenson, an attorney from La Grange. Mahoney supervises the public corruption and financial crimes unit of the Cook County state's attorney's office, was a lead prosecutor in the felony trial division and has wide experience as a litigator. He earned superior ratings from the CBA and the council. "Mr. Mahoney is well regarded for his knowledge of the law, legal ability, fine demeanor and temperament," the CBA says. The CBA found Brenson qualified but noted his "limited jury trial experience." He did not participate in the council's evaluation.
In the 12th subcircuit (Jordan vacancy), Democrat James L. Kaplan, who was appointed to the bench in 2010, is endorsed over Republican James Paul Pieczonka, who got negative ratings from the council and the CBA. Both candidates are from Glenview.
You'll see a number of unopposed candidates who were found not qualified by one or more bar associations, but those candidates are beyond the reach of voters for now. We can't wait to read the ratings when they run for retention in 2020.