In an effort to better educate voters about choices for judge, the Illinois Civil Justice League (ICJL) today released the ratings of judges running for retention in the November 6th General Election. Judges running for retention require 60 percent of voter approval.
The ICJL retention recommendations are a part of the most complete and comprehensive voter education initiative of its kind, designed to assist voters in making informed decisions about the judicial candidates on their ballot. The initiative called Judges: Good and Bad-You Can’t Afford to be Indifferent can be found at illinoisjudges.net.
The ICJL judicial ratings reveal that a good number of judges have earned the voters’ trust and deserve to be retained in November. “That good news, however, is mitigated by three judges who are recommended for NO Retention,” according to John Pastuovic, President of the Illinois Civil Justice League. “These three judges have exhibited behavior and judgement so egregious and outside of what should be expected of a judge, that the ICJL has created an entirely new category for them called ‘Judges Behaving Badly.’ These judges should absolutely not be retained.” he continued. “Finally, one former Will County judicial candidate who is now running for judicial election in Cook County should be rejected by voters for his blatant efforts to game the system.” Pastuovic continued.
These four judges recommended for NO Retention/No Election are:
Jeffrey O’Connor – 14th Circuit, Whiteside County
In 2014, Judge O’Connor fell asleep during a trial where the accused was charged with murdering four people. While a jury later convicted the defendant of the slayings, the defendant sought a new trial based on the judge’s nap. In fact, the defense team said the judge repeatedly fell asleep during the murder trial. In 2017, a divided Illinois Appellate Court panel rejected the request for a new trial on the grounds that the judge was not dozing through crucial evidence or motions.
The fact remains that Judge O’Conner’s actions embarrassed the court and gave the defendant an opportunity to an appeal he should never have had.
Patrick O’Shea – 18th Circuit, DuPage County
According to a complaint filed on October 25th by the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board, Judge O’Shea attempted to retaliate against two female court employees who made “substantiated” claims of sexual harassment against him. The complaint, lodged by Illinois’ Judicial Inquiry Board revealed that investigators, found “credible and substantiated complaints” that Judge O’Shea acted in a manner that “met the definition of sexual harassment” as defined by Illinois Supreme Court rules.
Additionally, Judge O’Shea remains on administrative duties after he was acquitted of reckless conduct charges by a Kane County judge, who found that O’Shea, “accidentally fired a bullet from his revolver through his wall and into a neighbor’s apartment, but that his actions did not meet reckless conduct requirements because his neighbors were not home and, therefore, not in danger.” Since then, Judge O’Shea has sought to have the records of the case expunged.
Beatriz Santiago – Municipal District 3, Cook County
Judge Santiago was censured by the Illinois Courts Commission in 2016 for knowingly deceiving her mortgage lender about where she lives. Medill Watchdog and WGN-TV caught her claiming residence at her parent’s house for purposes of running in a Cook County subcircuit while subsequently claiming the mortgaged house as her primary residence. The Illinois Courts Commission unanimously concluded that “one could reasonably characterize her actions as reckless.”
Shannon P. O’Malley (formerly known as Phillip Spiwak) – 13th Subcircuit, Cook County
Prior to the March Primary Election, the ICJL invited judicial candidates and judges running in the Primary Election to submit answers to questions about their careers and candidacies in their own words which were then published in unedited form on illinoisjudges.net.
In addition to providing this information to voters, the ICJL also evaluated the questionnaire answers as well as numerous other factors and considered the judges and judicial candidates for ratings of Highly Recommended, Recommended, or Not Recommended,” Pastuovic continued.
While voters had many good candidates to choose from in the Primary Election, the ICJL was compelled to draw the voters’ attention to one candidate whose actions disqualify him to serve. Former Will County Republican judicial candidate Shannon P. O’Malley, a Schaumburg attorney formerly known as Phillip Spiwak, won the Primary Election and is on the November ballot running as a Democrat in the Thirteenth Subcircuit. “In a blatant attempt to improve his electoral prospects, O’Malley is deceiving voters by changing his party affiliation and his perceived ethnic origin,” said Pastuovic. “In our opinion, his cynical attempt to game the electoral process disqualifies him for any office, particularly that of judge,” he concluded. O’Malley aka Spiwak is Not Recommended.
View a full list of ICJL recommendations for the November 6th General Election here.