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Monday, April 18, 2011

Courts - "Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and other politicians often weigh in on the selection of Cook County associate judges — a process supposed to be free of political influence"

Jeff Coen and Todd Lighty has this lengthy report in the April 15th Chicago Tribune. It begins:

The letters from Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan are short and to the point.

"Dear Judge," begins one, written on Madigan's General Assembly stationery. "I believe that these people would be excellent members of the judiciary."

Tucked into the letter to Cook County's Circuit Court judges are the names of a handful of lawyers, blessed by Madigan to fill judicial openings.

Madigan's letters provide a glimpse of his influence in what passes for merit selection of associate judges, who are chosen by the county's 275 circuit judges.

Many of those full circuit judges were publicly elected with the help of the Democratic Party that Madigan controls — and the judicial slating committee run by Ald. Edward Burke, 14th. While the party wields overt power in those elections, the process of picking associate judges is touted as a way for talented lawyers to make the bench without bowing to political bosses or wooing uninformed and uninterested voters.

But politicking for the coveted associate judgeships is rampant in Chicago's legal community, and the Tribune found one of the best ways to win a spot is to be on what is widely referred to as "Madigan's list."

ILB: The Illinois "associate judges" sound like our magistrates and commissioners in superior court. Can any readers provide input (tell me if you don't want attribution) on how the magistrate/commissioner process works in Indiana? Here is a list of the magistrates and commissioners in Marion County, for example. One reader has observed:
I believe the process is very political with the party chairs (and potentially others) having a lot of sway.

(ILB: Of course, this may not be the best example, as the whole judge selection process in Marion County is squirrelly. See Boehm: "Electing judges a charade in Marion County.")

Compare this to the federal magistrate process where the judges seem to want a person who is going to do the work well and make their life easier--and couldn't care less about party affiliations.

More from the Illinois story:
"People assume that if you are on Madigan's list, you will get made," one circuit judge said. "Madigan has a lot of power in Springfield. He does things that could affect our salaries and pensions."

State lawmakers must sign off on changes to salary and retirement benefits for the more than 400 judges in the Cook County Circuit Court system, the nation's largest, with courts at the Daley Center in the Loop and six suburban municipal districts.

The Cook County Democratic Party, run by Madigan ally Joseph Berrios, acts as a virtual gatekeeper for candidates seeking to run in the party primary to become a full circuit judge — a win there is tantamount to victory in the general election. That slating process has long been run by Burke, whose wife, Anne Burke, became a Supreme Court justice with the party's help.

This year, as in others when there are associate judge openings, a nominating committee of circuit judges will select a shortlist of finalists from the applicants.

The shortlist sets off a frenzied two weeks of private campaigning. The candidates send cards, letters, resumes and recommendations, and try to visit as many circuit judges as they can and ask for their vote. Ethnic groups lobby for their members to be supported, and circuit judges sometimes write one another letters pushing for candidates they know.

From 2003 through 2009, there were five contests for associate judge, and more than 135 lawyers made the final cut to fill 82 vacancies.

Many got recommendations from judges, lawyers, bar associations and politicians, in letters that often mentioned how they know the candidates and what their qualifications are.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 18, 2011 01:36 PM
Posted to Courts in general