Justice Burke Calls Rauner Court Critique 'Regrettable'
From the Chicago Tribune
Offering rare public comment on state politics, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke said Tuesday it was "regrettable" that Gov. Bruce Rauner characterized the high court as untrustworthy and part of a "corrupt system" in remarks earlier this year.
"Well, I think it's regrettable if he said that," Burke said after a speech at the City Club of Chicago.
"I just have to tell you that my colleagues are outstanding legal educators. They've been in the law for their whole lives," she said. "They're good people. Honest, moral, ethical. And I can unequivocally say that isn't true."
In April, before the Supreme Court struck down a 2013 overhaul of the pension system that sought to eliminate more than $100 billion in debt by curtailing retirement benefits, the governor took aim at the court while speaking to the editorial board of the suburban Daily Herald newspaper.
"I don't trust the Supreme Court to be rational in their decisions," Rauner said at the time. "I think they're activist judges who want to be legislators."
Asked by the newspaper if he believed the state's high court is part of a "corrupt" system, Rauner said: "Yes, correct. Yes. Yes. We have a system where we elect our judges, and the trial lawyers who argue cases in front of those judges give campaign cash to those judges. It's a corrupt system."
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Tribune
Offering rare public comment on state politics, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke said Tuesday it was "regrettable" that Gov. Bruce Rauner characterized the high court as untrustworthy and part of a "corrupt system" in remarks earlier this year.
"Well, I think it's regrettable if he said that," Burke said after a speech at the City Club of Chicago.
"I just have to tell you that my colleagues are outstanding legal educators. They've been in the law for their whole lives," she said. "They're good people. Honest, moral, ethical. And I can unequivocally say that isn't true."
In April, before the Supreme Court struck down a 2013 overhaul of the pension system that sought to eliminate more than $100 billion in debt by curtailing retirement benefits, the governor took aim at the court while speaking to the editorial board of the suburban Daily Herald newspaper.
"I don't trust the Supreme Court to be rational in their decisions," Rauner said at the time. "I think they're activist judges who want to be legislators."
Asked by the newspaper if he believed the state's high court is part of a "corrupt" system, Rauner said: "Yes, correct. Yes. Yes. We have a system where we elect our judges, and the trial lawyers who argue cases in front of those judges give campaign cash to those judges. It's a corrupt system."
Read more in our daily News Update...