Thursday, November 6, 2008

Dona Nobis Pacem

Mr. Lincoln's words about the value of lawyers as peacemakers are no less valid today. Mr. Lincoln was speaking of cases and controversies arising in the courts in which he practiced. Still, it may be that his advice can be readily adapted to the circumstances of another Illinois lawyer now preparing to follow Mr. Lincoln to the White House.

Dona nobis pacem.

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This "Peace Globe" is one of literally hundreds that are being posted today in the Blogosphere. You can read more about Peace Globes here.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Resources for voters in Tuesday's judicial races

One-stop shopping for those looking to decide how to vote on the lengthy judicial retention ballot in Cook County:


From this link you can navigate to the Chicago Bar Association and Chicago Council of Lawyers links set out below as well as to the recommendations of the Suburban Bar Coalition and a sample ballot, with ballot numbers, on which you can list your own conclusions.


From this link you can navigate to the CBA's 2008 General Election Green Guide to Judicial Candidates in Cook County (in Adobe PDF format) and Vote Smart Pocket Guide (Adobe PDF).


From this link you can navigate to the Council's evaluations of all retention candidates and candidates in contested elections (Adobe PDF).


From this link you can navigate to a statement submitted on behalf of each and every Cook County retention candidate.

Alliance of Bar Associations grid

You can see a table summarizing the recommendations made by the Alliance of of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening by clicking back to this link on Page One. The Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening is comprised of the Asian American Bar Association, Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Chicago Council of Lawyers, Cook County Bar Association, Decalogue Society of Lawyers, Hellenic Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago, Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois, and Women’s Bar Association of Illinois working collaboratively to improve the process of screening judicial candidates in Cook County, Illinois.

Newspaper links

This link will take you into the Chicago Tribune editorial urging a "no" vote for four Circuit Court retention candidates. The Sun-Times has also urged a "no" vote on four judges. That link will take you to Sun-Times' October 27 editorial.