From the Madison County Record
Eligibility requirements for judicial candidates and the process in which judges are retained and appointed to the bench would see some major changes under a trio of proposals introduced this month in the Illinois General Assembly.
Each of the three measures would amend the Judiciary Article of the state Constitution, a feat that requires approval from three-fifths of the legislature before such a proposal could even be put to the voters for their consideration.
Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon, last week filed one of the two proposals that call for changes to the way Illinois selects and retains its judges.
Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, serves as a sponsor to the other one and Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, earlier this month introduced a proposal that focuses on the eligibility requirements for judicial office.
All three constitutional amendments have been assigned to the Rules committees in their respective chambers.
Although encouraged that there are at least three lawmakers pushing for change, Ed Murnane, president of the Illinois Civil Justice League (ICJL) said he is not sure whether “any of these proposals will get any traction” during the spring legislative session.
“We’re encouraged by the fact that legislators are taking a look at the need for judicial selection reform,” Murnane said. “But, I think addressing retention is approaching the issue from the wrong end. I think change needs to be made in the selection process, not in the retention process.”
Rather than focusing on the process in which Illinois uses to retain its judges, Murnane said “we need to make sure we are putting good people on the bench to begin with” because it is very rare that sitting judges fail to receive the necessary votes to be retained to another term.
Even if the trio of recently-introduced constitutional amendments doesn’t make it out of the General Assembly this year, Murnane said he hopes the proposals will at least be discussed by lawmakers in a meaningful way.