While nearly all of Cook County’s Democratic candidates for judgeships are running unopposed this fall, voters in the county and elsewhere in the state will have the opportunity to sound off on whether a number of judges, some with years or even decades of judicial experience, should retain their spots on the bench in Chicago and Springfield.
Statewide, three seats on the Illinois Supreme Court are on the ballot. That includes a high-stakes retention battle over the fate of Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride in the state’s Third Appellate District, a district that includes a chunk of Chicago’s southwest suburbs and a large swath of centra Illinois.
Kilbride is backed by the state’s Democratic Party, led by Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, which has poured financial support into his reelection effort. He has also been backed heavily by Illinois trial lawyers.
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx
Opponents of Kilbride’s retention say his reliance on such political support, as well as some of his past decisions favoring Madigan and Democratic interests, raise too many questions about his judicial independence from those now in control of the state government.
Opponents have launched a spirited effort to unseat Kilbride, buoyed by big donations from some of Illinois’ wealthiest contributors, including billionaire Ken Griffin.
In all, more than $10 million has been spent in the campaign thus far.
Kilbride will need to receive at least 60% of the vote in the Third District to retain his seat. The district includes Will and Kankakee counties, and runs west across Central Illinois to the Mississippi River, covering 18 other counties, including Peoria, LaSalle and Rock Island counties.
If he is retained, he would secure another 10-year term on the state Supreme Court.
Among those recommending against retaining Kilbride is the Illinois Civil Justice League.
In its election year report, “Judges: Good and Bad – You Can’t Afford to be Indifferent,” the Elmhurst-based organization noted Kilbride wrote the decision that blocked efforts to change the state constitution to change the way the state draws legislative districts. Such a change would have removed Speaker Madigan from controlling the process that determines how Illinoisans’ elect representatives to Springfield.
The ICJL noted that Kilbride opponents refer to him as “Madigan’s favorite Supreme Court justice,” referencing the millions in financial contributions Kilbride has received from Madigan’s campaign war chest.
“Illinoisans need and deserve an independent Supreme Court and Kilbride accepting that level of financial contribution from a small cohort of donors is disqualifying,” said ICJL Executive Director John Pastuovic. “For that reason, we strongly urge the voters of the Third District to vote ‘No’ on Kilbride’s retention.”
Kilbride, however, has received support from other organizations, including the Illinois State Bar Association, which recommended voters retain Kilbride for another 10 years on the court.
The ISBA said Kilbride has “championed access to justice for all” and led efforts to increase transparency during his time on the Supreme Court.
Kilbride has served on the Illinois Supreme Court since 2000.
COOK COUNTY JUDGES
In Cook County, voters are also being asked to decide whether to allow 60 judges currently serving in the county’s circuit courts to keep their jobs.
That list includes Circuit Judge Michael Toomin, the target of a campaign by progressive groups seeking his ouster.
Toomin has served as a judge in Cook County since 1980, when he was appointed as an associate judge. In 1984, he was elected as a circuit judge, eventually becoming the supervising judge of the county’s Criminal Courts Division in 1994. He was appointed to serve as an appellate justice from 2008-2010, but returned to the Cook County courts. He has led the county’s Juvenile Division courts for the past 10 years.
Nearly all judicial review organizations, including the ISBA, recommend voters retain Toomin.
“Attorneys reported that he is well-respected for his legal ability and knowledge, and extensive experience, fair treatment, and diligence,” ISBA said in its report recommending Toomin’s retention.
However, Toomin has come under fire from Democratic Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and a range of progressive groups, who are pushing his ouster. They say Toomin needs to be removed because he has not supported progressives’ calls for extensive reform of the juvenile justice system, which they say results in too many teens being jailed, not rehabilitated.
Preckwinkle’s opposition, in particular, appeared to have played a large role in the Cook County Democratic Party’s decision to reverse course and remove its endorsement of Toomin.
However, opposition to Toomin ratcheted up following Toomin’s decision earlier this year to appoint a special prosecutor to reopen the case against actor Jussie Smollett, who is accused of staging a hoax attack in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. Smollett, who is black and gay, blamed it on white supporters of President Donald Trump.
A police investigation revealed the alleged hoax, however, and the city pushed for charges to be filed against Smollett.
However, the prosecution was dropped, suddenly, by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who is also on the ballot this election, facing a surprisingly tough challenge from former Judge Pat O’Brien.
Toomin supporters say his decisions regarding Smollett are what has spurred the strong campaign against Toomin, not concerns over how he has run the county’s Juvenile Justice courts.
The ICJL also endorsed Toomin’s retention.
“Our opinion is that, during his 40-year career on the bench, Judge Toomin has established himself as one of the most thoughtful and qualified judges on the bench today,” said Pastuovic.
“The bottom line: He follows the law, and doesn’t bow to politics, and that appears to have gotten him into trouble with the powers that be in Cook County,” Pastuovic said.
Among other judges, the ICJL recommended voters support:
- James Flannery, who leads Cook County’s Law Division;
- Shelley Sutker-Dermer, who presides over the county’s Municipal Division court in Skokie;
- Lewis Nixon, who supervises the county’s Chancery Division;
- Janet Adams Brosnahan, Joan Powell, James O’Hara, John Curry and Patricia O’Brien Sheahan, in the county’s Law Division;
- Donna Cooper, in the Juvenile Justice Division;
- Debra Walker, in the Domestic Relations Division; and
- Thomas Carroll, John Allegretti and Patrick Coughlin, in the Municipal Division.
These include:
- Jackie Marie Portman-Brown. ISBA said some of its reviewing attorneys reported Portman-Brown “does not know the law or misapplies it.” They also questioned her “temperament, with some describing her as abusive to the courtroom staff and her unorthodox behavior on the bench, including singing and ringing a cowbell;”
- Diana Rosario. “Some attorneys raised concerns about rulings that were inconsistent with the law, her ability to hear complex cases, and timeliness at issuing written orders, while other described her ability as adequate,” the ISBA reported; and
- Mauricio Araujo, who did not return the ISBA questionnaire, which earned an automatic negative recommendation.