U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso is asking to be removed from a case that claims members in the state's largest judicial lobbying group-- of which he is one-- play favorites and back the rulings of their fellow members over those of litigants.
Alonso, a member of the Illinois Judges Association (IJA), asked on June 18 that Edward "Coach" Weinhaus v. Regina A. Scannicchio, et. al. be reassigned to another judge in the U.S. District Court.
Scannichio is a Cook County Judge in its divorce division, and on the board of directors of the IJA.
Edward "Coach" Weinhaus accuses Illinois judges of colluding to protect each other.
| Washington University
Alonso cited his membership in the IJA as the reason he could not be impartial.
Weinhaus told the Cook County Record that Alonso's recusal proved the point he was trying to make with his lawsuit.
"Judge Alonso has the right idea. If only the IJA judges would do the same thing before ruling on each other's cases. It's the least Illinoisans deserve," he said.
In April, Weinhaus filed the suit accusing the IJA of "complete domination" of the Illinois court system.
"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."
The IJA, which serves as a networking organization for judges, claims on its web site a commitment to "(fostering) public confidence in an independent judiciary."
Alonso joined the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2014, nominated by former President Barack Obama (D). He previously served as a Cook County Circuit Court associate judge in its criminal division, and before that as an assistant public defender in the Cook County Public Defender's office.
Weinhaus practices law and is CEO of Judiciocracy LLC, which publishes news on judges and courts. He has worked a lecturer at UCLA, University of Chicago, Pepperdine, Washington University in St. Louis and at Yeshiva University in New York.
He has a J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. in Economics from London School of Economics.
Weinhaus is represented in the case by Antonio F. Valiente of Valiente, Carollo & McElligott.
The Illinois Judges Association is represented by Joseph Pierotti of Doherty & Progar, LLC and Michael Joseph Progar of the Progar Law Group.