A judicial reform advocate and attorney has accused the Illinois Judges Association of improperly allowing judges to use their collective power to quell criticism, in part, by frustrating judicial critics' use of the state court system.
On April 17, attorney Edward "Coach" Weinhaus filed suit in Chicago federal court against the IJA. The lawsuit specifically accuses the IJA of violating his rights under federal law.
According to the complaint, Weinhaus asserts the IJA has used its influence and membership base to essentially seize control of the judicial branch of Illinois' state government.
Weinhaus
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He notes that, initially, the IJA represented rank-and-file circuit court judges in Illinois county courts, advocating for greater judicial pay and other interests of state court judges.
However, now the IJA is heavily populated and led by Illinois Supreme Court justices and appellate court justices, who, in turn, set court rules and even govern who may serve as an attorney in Illinois. He noted that Supreme Court Justice David Overstreet serves as the organization's president; Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis has also served in that role; Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Rochford serves as the IJA secretary; and justices P. Scott Neville and Lisa Holder White are IJA members.
"The state's reliance on the (IJA) is so complete, that it proudly touts it on the website," Weinhaus wrote in his complaint. "Illinois pays the judges dues to create their Business League, then empowers them to write all the rules, join together to rule over the people, protect each other without disclosure, enforce the rules to the detriment of any other group, then both the state and the (IJA) brag about it," Weinhaus wrote.
"... Therein lies the complete domination to which Plaintiff (Weinhaus) is subjected - when the Business League itself is challenged, the Business League (IJA), as an arm of the state, protects itself, and the individual's right to due process in front of a fair and impartial judiciary is gone."
He noted the IJA has also moved in recent months explicitly to defend judges against public criticism.
In a move which garnered little public attention, the IJA announced the creation of a so-called "Emeritus Panel," specifically to help judges deal with public criticism "by the media."
According to the IJA, the Emeritus Panel will be made up of retired Illinois state appellate court justices, retired county chief judges and retired presiding judges from the state's circuit court. It would be co-chaired by seven former Illinois Supreme Court justices, including Lloyd A. Karmeier and Anne M. Burke, wife of former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, who was convicted earlier this year on public corruption charges.
According to the IJA, the Emeritus Panel was the idea of former Illinois Appellate Justice Eileen O'Neil Burke, who served as the immediate past president of the IJA. O'Neil Burke, who is not related to Anne Burke or Ed Burke, retired from the appellate court to secure the Democratic nomination for Cook County State's Attorney.
In announcing the Emeritus Panel, Karmeier wrote in the December 2023 IJA newsletter: "There may be times when judges are entitled to be justly criticized by the media. There are also times when they are not."
The IJA said the Emeritus Panel would work with judges to determine if media criticism was "fair" and if either the criticized judge should respond, or if the IJA should respond on their behalf.
The IJA did not reply to questions from The Cook County Record about the Emeritus Panel. The IJA also did not reply to a request for comment on Weinhaus' lawsuit.
Weinhaus' legal claims center on the refusal by Illinois appellate justices to hear his appeal of a sanction entered against him in 2020 as a litigant by Cook County Judge Regina Scannicchio as part of a divorce proceeding.
Scannicchio currently serves as presiding judge over the Cook County family law and divorce courts. She also serves as member of the board of directors of the IJA.
Scannicchio is also named as a defendant in Weinhaus' action.
Scannicchio is on the ballot for retention this November. She has been linked politically to Ed Burke.
According to Weinhaus' complaint, Scannicchio improperly sanctioned him in 2020. Weinhaus then appealed, and followed with further appeals, which he says documented numerous "ethical lapses" by Scannicchio. Those appeals were consolidated.
The complaint does not specify what those "ethical lapses" may have involved.
However, a three-justice panel of the Illinois First District Appellate Court refused to hear the appeal. Weinhaus said the dismissal violated his legal rights and Illinois court rules. According to the complaint, the appellate panel included Justices Michael B. Hyman, Carl A. Walker and Mary Ellen Coghlan. The appellate justices are not named as defendants in the lawsuit.
"There was no basis in Illinois law for denying jurisdiction to hear a mandatory appeal under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 301," Weinhaus wrote.
Rule 301 states: "Every final judgment of a circuit court in a civil case is appealable as of right."
In his complaint, Weinhaus claims the appellate justices' refusal arose from a desire to protect Scannicchio, a fellow judge and member of the board of directors of the IJA, from public scrutiny.
"Rather than adjudicate the merits of the appeal which would have undoubtedly exposed the ethical violations of a (IJA) Director, (the appellate justices) circled the wagons and defended their own," Weinhaus said in his complaint.
Weinhaus further noted the appellate justices' acted on their own to dismiss his appeals. No opposing party had moved to dismiss the appeal.
"... Rather than disclose their relationship to (Scannicchio) or recuse themselves, the (appellate court justices) decided to violate (Weinhaus') Due Process rights and dismiss the appeal without any consideration of the court's jurisdiction or the merits of the appeal to benefit themselves and their fellow (IJA) members," he wrote.
Weinhaus noted in his lawsuit that Scannicchio has filed an ethics complaint against him with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC). After investigating complaints, the ARDC can then recommend to the Illinois Supreme Court to take actions against attorneys accused of ethics violations.
The Cook County Record has not obtained or seen the complaint against Weinhaus. However, in a separate legal matter, in which Weinhaus is serving as an attorney, Weinhaus provided the federal courts with a copy of his reply to Scannicchio's complaint.
In that reply, Weinhaus says Scannicchio's ethical complaint is politically motivated and baseless. According to Weinhaus' reply, Scannicchio complained to the ARDC that Weinhaus had violated ethics rules through his work as a court reform advocate associated with an online publication, known as ALABNews, which covers misconduct in the legal community, and through an organization, known as ChildrenoftheCourt.org, which advocates for family law judges to be chosen and assigned to cases based on "relevant personal experience," including being parents themselves.
In his reply, Weinhaus said Scannicchio has misrepresented his efforts to keep those publishing and advocacy ventures separate from his legal practice, and is falsely accusing him of misreprenting the role of another Cook County judge in establishing funding for ChildrenoftheCourt.org, as part of a deal to settle a separate case.
Weinhaus further asserts the ethics complaint came in response to Weinhaus' efforts to draw attention to what he has called Scannicchio's alleged ethical lapses and decisions.
In his lawsuit against the IJA, Weinhaus asserts Scannicchio has "admitted to reaching out to another judge to protect her reputation" and "communicated with (the appellate justices) and the (IJA) as it relates to Plaintiff's actions criticizing her in efforts to defend her reputation and succeeded in receiving their support."
Scannicchio did not reply to a request for comment from The Cook County Record. A spokesperson for the Cook County Chief Judge's office said: "Under Illinois Supreme Court ethics rules, judges cannot comment on pending or impending cases."
In his complaint, Weinhaus says he is not asking the federal court to overturn any Illinois state court judicial decisions.
Rather, he is asserting claims under federal law for violation of his rights to due process and equal protection under the law by denying him and perhaps others the right to appeal before "an impartial judge and appellate tribunal" as part of a "scheme" among judges, through the IJA, to "band together to protect and defend each other."
Weinhaus is asking the federal court to award him $1 in nominal damages, as well as unspecified compensatory damages and an unspecified "exemplary amount for punitive damages."
Weinhaus is represented in the action by attorney Antonio Valiente, of San Juan, Puerto Rico.