The Illinois Supreme Patrons
From the Chicago Tribune
As public officials who serve at the mercy of voters, the seven justices of the Illinois Supreme Court are creatures of a political system: They collect millions of dollars in campaign contributions to win elections, then spend their careers striving to assure the rest of us that the money, and the donors, don't influence the court's decisions. That can't be fun.
But there is one opportunity for the justices to be blessedly free of partisan politics: when they fill unexpectedly vacant judgeships. The justices can scour Illinois for the very best, the very brightest, and elevate those men and women into a judiciary that includes too many mopes. The justices can appoint as judges the great legal minds that have no clout whatsoever with this state's Republican or Democratic pols.
But that isn't what the justices do. As the lead story in last Sunday's Tribune reported, the Supreme Court in the past year kept seven politically connected judges on the Cook County bench. That's not all: These seven judges managed to keep fabulous jobs — many salaries approach $180,000, and the public pensions are huge — after voters rejected them in elections:
One had given more than $20,000 to the Cook County Democratic Party. Two had connections to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Others have ties to powerful Chicago Democrats who decide who gets the party's support to be judge. They weren't the only active Democrats chosen for Circuit Court duty by the high court's three justices from Chicago, all who are Democrats themselves. A Tribune review also found the court reappointed three judges who dropped out of judicial races, making room for the Democratic Party's favored candidate.
How the Supreme Court decides whom to appoint remains a mystery. Those chosen often have a common qualification on their resumes — ties to powerful Democratic politicians. In Cook County, the process typically goes like this: The Supreme Court appoints a lawyer to the bench, the new judge later runs for election and loses, and the court then reappoints the losing judge to the bench at the same salary and benefits.
Those three justices from Chicago? Democrats Anne Burke, Charles Freeman and Mary Jane Theis.
If this unabashed judicial patronage sounds disturbingly familiar, it should: Last year the Tribune reported that, since 2000, the Supreme Court had reappointed 18 judges — many of them politically active Democrats — to Cook County judgeships after, yes, voters had rejected them. Reporters Jeff Coen and Todd Lighty explained that those judges often are repeatedly reappointed and serve for years without having to again face Cook County voters.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Tribune
As public officials who serve at the mercy of voters, the seven justices of the Illinois Supreme Court are creatures of a political system: They collect millions of dollars in campaign contributions to win elections, then spend their careers striving to assure the rest of us that the money, and the donors, don't influence the court's decisions. That can't be fun.
But there is one opportunity for the justices to be blessedly free of partisan politics: when they fill unexpectedly vacant judgeships. The justices can scour Illinois for the very best, the very brightest, and elevate those men and women into a judiciary that includes too many mopes. The justices can appoint as judges the great legal minds that have no clout whatsoever with this state's Republican or Democratic pols.
But that isn't what the justices do. As the lead story in last Sunday's Tribune reported, the Supreme Court in the past year kept seven politically connected judges on the Cook County bench. That's not all: These seven judges managed to keep fabulous jobs — many salaries approach $180,000, and the public pensions are huge — after voters rejected them in elections:
One had given more than $20,000 to the Cook County Democratic Party. Two had connections to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Others have ties to powerful Chicago Democrats who decide who gets the party's support to be judge. They weren't the only active Democrats chosen for Circuit Court duty by the high court's three justices from Chicago, all who are Democrats themselves. A Tribune review also found the court reappointed three judges who dropped out of judicial races, making room for the Democratic Party's favored candidate.
How the Supreme Court decides whom to appoint remains a mystery. Those chosen often have a common qualification on their resumes — ties to powerful Democratic politicians. In Cook County, the process typically goes like this: The Supreme Court appoints a lawyer to the bench, the new judge later runs for election and loses, and the court then reappoints the losing judge to the bench at the same salary and benefits.
Those three justices from Chicago? Democrats Anne Burke, Charles Freeman and Mary Jane Theis.
If this unabashed judicial patronage sounds disturbingly familiar, it should: Last year the Tribune reported that, since 2000, the Supreme Court had reappointed 18 judges — many of them politically active Democrats — to Cook County judgeships after, yes, voters had rejected them. Reporters Jeff Coen and Todd Lighty explained that those judges often are repeatedly reappointed and serve for years without having to again face Cook County voters.
Read more in our daily News Update...