IL Supreme Court Justice Survives Ballot Attack, But Others Will Be Wary
From the Chicago Tribune
The most ominous outcome in last week's election: A band of big-bucks civil attorneys almost picked off an Illinois Supreme Court justice because they believe he's a threat to their big paydays.
By the barest of margins, voters in Southern Illinois denied the lawyers their trophy. Justice Lloyd Karmeier needed a 60 percent "yes" vote to win a second 10-year term. His unofficial tally was 60.7 percent.
The moral victory goes to Karmeier, a capable and honest judge, and to the voters who didn't fall for the nasty attack ads bankrolled by the trial attorneys. But the multimillion-dollar misinformation campaign sent a chilling message to judges at every level of the court system: If we don't like your rulings, we'll come after you.
Karmeier broke the mold in the plaintiff-friendly 5th Judicial District in 2004, when he defeated then-appellate Judge Gordon Maag for an open seat on the state Supreme Court. The race turned into a referendum on "jackpot justice," with trial attorneys backing Maag, a Democrat, and businesses and tort reform groups supporting Karmeier, a Republican. A record $9.3 million was spent on the race.
The next year, Karmeier joined other members of the Supreme Court in decisions that overturned a $10.1 billion judgment against cigarette maker Philip Morris and a $1.2 billion judgment against State Farm.
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in those cases raised millions for Campaign for 2016, the committee that tried to oust Karmeier in the Nov. 4 election. But they weren't just trying to punish him for those adverse rulings. They wanted to buy themselves a friendlier Supreme Court.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Tribune
The most ominous outcome in last week's election: A band of big-bucks civil attorneys almost picked off an Illinois Supreme Court justice because they believe he's a threat to their big paydays.
By the barest of margins, voters in Southern Illinois denied the lawyers their trophy. Justice Lloyd Karmeier needed a 60 percent "yes" vote to win a second 10-year term. His unofficial tally was 60.7 percent.
The moral victory goes to Karmeier, a capable and honest judge, and to the voters who didn't fall for the nasty attack ads bankrolled by the trial attorneys. But the multimillion-dollar misinformation campaign sent a chilling message to judges at every level of the court system: If we don't like your rulings, we'll come after you.
Karmeier broke the mold in the plaintiff-friendly 5th Judicial District in 2004, when he defeated then-appellate Judge Gordon Maag for an open seat on the state Supreme Court. The race turned into a referendum on "jackpot justice," with trial attorneys backing Maag, a Democrat, and businesses and tort reform groups supporting Karmeier, a Republican. A record $9.3 million was spent on the race.
The next year, Karmeier joined other members of the Supreme Court in decisions that overturned a $10.1 billion judgment against cigarette maker Philip Morris and a $1.2 billion judgment against State Farm.
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in those cases raised millions for Campaign for 2016, the committee that tried to oust Karmeier in the Nov. 4 election. But they weren't just trying to punish him for those adverse rulings. They wanted to buy themselves a friendlier Supreme Court.
Read more in our daily News Update...