August 02, 2023
NO 2024 JUDGE EXIT DESPITE OWL-IN, ZOOM-OUT, SHOW-UP
Judges should not be perceived as fountains of jurisprudence, repositories of vast legal knowledge and possessors of God-given insightful brilliance. They are lawyers who have learned the political system, have some minimal merit and morality, and have big egos.
And still, some are clueless about HOW to become a judge.
It is not some labyrinthine, mysterious process. It requires four things: (1) That the lawyer suck-up to the Democratic establishment and show a history of generous party donations; (2) that the lawyer has the required gender (3) that the lawyer be able to pay the $50,000 fee for being slated; and (4) that the lawyer must promise NOT to run if NOT slated. In other words, hurry-up and wait for 2026, and keep donating.
“It’s a wonderful job,” said judge Lorraine Murphy, who sits in the 2nd District (Skokie) courthouse. She’s got that right.
A county judge is pampered, sheltered, well-paid, under-worked and secure in the knowledge that they won’t lose retention unless they’re indicted. The job pays between $215,000 and $260,000, has a 3 percent COLA increase annually, has 5-weeks vacation per year, unlimited paid sick days with a doctor’s letter, 5 personal days, 10-12 paid holidays, full family medical benefits, and an 80 percent pension for life after 18 years. Of the 2,080 work-hours per year (52 weeks x 40 hours), or 260 days, a judge puts in about 210 days. That’s a salary of between $1,025 and $1,240 per day.
And then there’s the prestige factor. A retired judge can join a big law firm as a rain-maker, charge $300/hour, and be called “Judge” for life.
During the pandemic all courtrooms shut down and all business was conducted by ZOOM. Judges could work from their couch. Not anymore. The chief judge installed an OWL system, which are in-courtroom wall screens on which lawyers can appear until discovery is closed and the case ready for trial. Then they, like all litigants, must appear in-person.
Still, being a judge is a lawyer’s heaven.
THE CIRCUIT COURT: COUNTYWIDE: There are 513 elected county judges, each paid $230,000, with 165 elected from the 15 subcircuits, or a maximum of 11 in each. That means 348 are elected countywide, with vacancies amounting to 10-15 per cycle. They have a 6-year term and face retention in their 6th year. There are 391 associate judges (AJ), paid $215,000, picked by a vote of the elected judges. They have a 4-year term and can be “re-elected” indefinitely.
The 2024 cycle has 12 vacancies to date, but at least six more are expected before Dec. 4. There will be about 40 lawyer/supplicants who will present their credentials on Aug. 14-15, some of whom appeared at June’s pre-slating. It’s already a done deal. Don Harmon and Toni Preckwinkle have picked their 2024 slate.
For the slatees, coughing-up 50K gets them on the March 19 ballot, as the party gets 15,000 petition signatures, and also gets them on the sample ballot mailed to all Democratic voting households. What is key are the “alternates,” who will number 8 or 9.
If vacancies arise between Aug. 15 and Dec. 4, the party gets the petitions to get an “alternate” on the ballot, oftentimes without opposition.
APPELLATE COURT (1ST DISTRICT): There are 24 AC justices, with 5 vacancies expected to be filled in 2024. Their job is to review/rectify lower court decisions on appeal, often known as “judicial errors.” But most appeals are frivolous, not bad judgemaking. The ACs are cloistered in the Daley Center, have law clerks who research and help draft opinions, and never see lawyers or litigants face-to-face.
The Illinois Supreme Court elevated CC judges Mary Mikva, Cynthia Cobbs and Carl Anthony Walker to the to the AC last year and the vacancies of Eileen O’Neil Burke and Mathias DeLort will be filled by CC judges Ramon Ocasio III and Rena Van Tine. It’s Identity Politics galore. All will be slated.
A lot of committeepersons are disgruntled that ISC makes the AC picks, not them. But such is life.
ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT (ISC): It’s a lifetime pick with a 10-year term and a $260,000 salary. They’re on the retention ballot their 10th year, and usually stick around until their 18th, when their pension vests, meaning 80 percent of a quarter million for life. And their fellow ISC justices pick their replacement, meaning the retiree has input.
It is the judicial pinnacle and the 7 ISC (5D, 2R) justices usually spend a lifetime patiently climbing up from CC to AC to ISC. The 2024 primary for a seat solely within Cook County will be Identity Politics 2.0 – a super-charged contest between anointed justice Joy Cunningham, a Black woman and AC justice who was elevated to fill the Burke vacancy in Nov. 2022, and Jesse Reyes, a Latino man and AC justice who finished a strong second in the 2020 ISC primary for the Freeman vacancy, which was won by P. Scott Neville.
It will déjà vu all over in 2024. It is irrefutable that Blacks heavily outvote Latinos in Democratic primaries. Cunningham will be slated and nominated.
The power of the ISC was demonstrated when they recently ruled constitutional the state SAFE-T Law, which eliminated cash bail and allowed anonymous police misconduct complaints.. And they can fill every judge vacancy in Illinois.
20 JUDICIAL SUBCIRCUITS (SC) EQUALS 220 JUDGES: “Diversity” was a concept as far back as 1991. Before then all judges ran countywide, meaning most were Irish-surnamed White men. The legislature created 15 subcircuits within Cook County, each to be gradually populated with 11 locally-elected judges, who would run for retention countywide. Since some SCs were in Black or Latino areas, as well as Republican suburbs, that insured more minorities on the bench (but not more Republicans).
The legislature in 2022 passed a bill to add 5 more subcircuits, effective in 2024. Population per SC declined from 340,619 to 255,464. The law creates 10 SC openings per cycle, to be subtracted from associate judge retiree vacancies (usually 15-20 per cycle), to be allocated among the new SCs until they reach 11 judges each. That will take a decade or longer. If more than 10 AJs retire, the balance gets appointed as usual.
10TH SUBCIRCUIT: There will be two vacancies in this Northwest Side/north suburban subcircuit. Gregory Wojkowski has retired and Clare McWilliams may soon do so. The ISC appointed James Murphy-Aguilu, Clerk of Court Iris Martinez’s chief-of-staff, to the Wojkowski vacancy on July 7. A complication is that Murphy-Aguilu resides in the old 10th, not the new 10th, which was remapped to cut the west end (Park Ridge, Des Plaines) and the east end (47th Ward) and moves northward.
“I’m definitely running,” said Liam Kelly, a criminal defense lawyer, as are James Crawley and James Murphy, a retired CCSA prosecutor. Private practitioner Jennifer Callahan and Murphy-Aguilu are both seeking countywide slating. Failing that, they will run in the 10th.
ADD It takes a minimum of 5,885 signatures, which is 0.05 percent of the highest Democratic 2022 vote, to get on the 2024 countywide ballot, so upwards of 15,000 is the safety zone. Party slating, which requires a $50,000 fee for “expenses,” gets the slatee the petitions needed. The petition circulatory period is between Sept. 5 and Dec. 4, which is the last day to file. To run independently takes a lot of effort over 90 days. A subcircuit requires 700 signatures, so a candidate needs over 1,000.
15TH DISTRICT: RABBITT OUT. You can’t beat somebody with nobody. And with 2022 primary (D) loser Michael Rabbitt opting out of a 2024 rematch, citing “family considerations,” incumbent state representative Mike Kelly (D-15) has nobody to date running against him. That, of course, presumes that Kelly, appointed to the former state Rep. John D’Amico’s vacancy, is a “somebody.”
He should be doing more to secure his political future. He’s at his Wrigleyville firehouse every third day when not in Springfield. He had just $21,285 cash-on-hand as of June 30. But, since he votes as instructed by Speaker Welch, he will get $50-80,000 worth of Welch-paid mailings and manpower in 2024. Kelly won in 2022 by 6,202-5,775, just 52 percent, carrying the 39th Ward by 300 votes and the suburbs (mainly Niles) by 257 votes. I think he should have been relentlessly knocking on doors since last summer, and especially during the city election season. But he didn’t. “I’m attending events” Kelly told me.
Rabbitt is a “progressive” but not a fervent Woke/Leftist. He hopes somebody will challenge Kelly. Thus far nobody has emerged
(Editor’s note: Stewart is a retired attorney who practiced in the county courts for 43 years.
Read more Analysis & Opinion from Russ Stewart at Russstewart.com
This column was published in Nadig Newspapers. If you, a friend or a colleague wish to be added to Russ's BUDDY LIST, and be emailed his column every Wednesday morning, email webmaster Joe Czech at Joe@Nadignewspapers.com