Illinois Judges Association Statement on Justice Kilbride's retention

The special interest groups trying to oust incoming Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court Tom Kilbride in his retention election pose a direct threat to fairness and impartiality of all Illinois judges. Through the use of deceptive and slick marketing, those sullying Justice Tom Kilbride are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for their own ideological and political ends at the expense of the touchstone of the American legal system – a judiciary independent of all influences and interests.

The Illinois Judges Association opposes any effort to “get” judges for doing their jobs. It undermines the ability of judges to carry out their judicial functions. It constitutes a dangerous intrusion upon independent judicial decision-making. And it is a blatant affront to everyone that the judiciary serves.

The public rightly demands that judges decide cases based on the law, not policy, popularity, or political views. As John Adams declared in the Declaration of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution, "It is the right of every citizen to be tried by judges as free, impartial and independent as the lot of humanity will admit." Yet, the incendiary attacks on Justice Kilbride seek nothing of the sort. To achieve their ends, special interest groups have resorted to ugly misrepresentations and falsehood of Justice Kilbride’s opinions. What political motive do they have? Playing politics with a judge's record, distorting it for political reasons, is unfair and dishonest.

Get the truth about Justice Tom Kilbride. Look at the ratings and evaluations by the major newspapers in Illinois and the Illinois State Bar Association, a non-partisan group. Ask a friend who is a lawyer or a judge. Vote on the basis of facts, not propaganda or an orchestrated disinformation media barrage. Once we allow judges to become intimidated or become mere tools of individuals or groups wanting to assert their own interests, to paraphrase Alexander Hamilton, the constitution is a dead letter. And, it might be said, so are our American values of justice.

The Illinois Judges Association is the statewide organization for members of the Illinois judiciary. It is made up of about 1,000 active and retired judges. It can be reached at 312.431.1283 or visited on the web at www.ija.org.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Releated: Illinois Judges Association weighs in on Kilbride retention

Rooting for Nolan Ryan's Rangers -- despite this

I still maintain that Mr. Ryan need not have clobbered Ventura quite so hard: I always thought Ventura was reconsidering just what he was doing right before he reached the mound. It doesn't look as if Ventura ever even tried to throw a punch.

Seeing this again gives me a new quest: I'm now looking for a video of Craig "the Little Hurt" Grebeck and Ozzie Guillen taking Ryan deep back to back. That turned out to be Ozzie's one and only home run in 1990. (The next time the Sox faced Ryan, Ryan plunked Grebeck. That still seems excessive to me....)

I thought this was just at our house...

Of course, we live just a couple of blocks from the Kennedy Expressway. Why should we expect good cell reception here?

------------------------------------------------------------
Zits comic obtained from the Houston Chronicle website, although I read it daily in the Chicago Tribune.

Sometimes saying "I'm sorry" isn't enough

But it's all we can say or do.

William Cook, 57, defense lawyer who was well loved, dies suddenly (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin coverage; subscription required)