My thanks to Al Adomite, Director of Government Relations of the
Illinois Civil Justice League and the researcher for
IllinoisJudges.net, for pointing out that the Illinois State Bar Association has released its
judicial candidate evaluations for the upcoming primary.
The Illinois State Bar Association is one of several members of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening. When all of the constituent organizations have completed their evaluations, the Alliance will release a 'grid' showing how each of the members rate each candidate. I'll be posting that grid just as soon as I can.
In the meantime, something to keep in mind with regard to bar association evaluations: There may be unanimity regarding a particular candidate -- but there isn't always. Reasonable bar associations, like reasonable people, may disagree about whether a particular candidate is fit to serve on the bench. Keep in mind also that bar associations find candidates qualified or recommended -- or not -- but positive ratings do not constitute endorsements.
With that preface, herewith the ISBA candidate evaluations, lifted straight from the ISBA website (linked above). You'll note that I've copied the entire table, even for uncontested races and Appellate Court races I've not been covering. This is a consequence of my limited HTML skills as opposed to an intentional expansion of the scope of the coverage provided here:
Key: HQ = Highly Qualified; Q = Qualified; NQ = Not Qualified; NE* = Not Evaluated/Late Submission of Application Anne M. Burke | HQ | William D. O’Neal | NQ | Alan J. Greiman | HQ | Sharon Johnson Coleman | Q | John O. Steele | Q | Frank Edward Gardner | NQ | Richard F. Walsh | Q | Lauretta Higgins Wolfson | Q | Dennis J. Burke | HQ | Terry MacCarthy | Q | Jesse G. Reyes | Q | Maureen Ward Kirby | Q | Peter John Curielli | NQ | Marilyn F. Johnson | Q | Joseph Robert Papavero | NQ | Joanne Marie “Jody” Rogers | Q | Thomas J. Byrne | Q | Thomas A. Doran | Q | Thaddeus L. Wilson | Q | Debra B. Walker | Q | Paula M. Lingo | Q | Kristyna Colleen Ryan | NQ | Frank James Ryan | NE* | John J. “Jack” Murphy | HQ | Michael B. Hyman | HQ | Kim R. Kardas | Q | Brian Terrence Sexton | Q | Joan Powell | Q | David John Mulvihill | NQ | E. Madeline O’Neill | Q | Patrick Dennis Riley | Q | Donna L. Cooper | Q | LaGuina Clay-Clark | Q | Zedrick T. Braden III | NQ | Patrick J. Sherlock | Q | John M. Allegretti | | William Edward Gomolinski | Q | Maureen H. Masterson-Pulia | Q | Pat Rogers | Q | Mauro Glorioso | Q | Carmen Kathleen Aguilar | Q | Deirdre Ann McGuire | | Furmin D. Sessoms | NQ | Nkrumah Lumumba Hopkins | NQ | Jackie Marie Portman | NQ | Stephen Stern | Q | Dominique C. Ross | NQ | Nancy Hallihan Horodecki | NQ | Mauricio Araujo | Q | Laura Bertucci Smith | Q | Mary Katherine M. Moore | HQ | Stuart M. Brody | Q | David H. Latham | Q | Anita Rivkin-Carothers | Q | Kevin Kenneth Pechous | Q | Melanie Rose Nuby | NQ | T. Lee Boyd, Jr. | NQ | Gideon Abraham Baum | NQ | Daniel Thomas Gillespie | HQ | James Byrne | Q | Debra Kramer Marcus | Q | Ann Collins Dole | Q | James A. Shapiro | Q | Aaron J. Weiss | Q | Ursula Walowski | Q | Gerald Patrick Cleary | Q | James Edward Snyder | Q | Stephen F. Sidlowski | NQ | Diana L. Kenworthy | NQ | John G. Mulroe | Q | Rosaire Marie Hall | Q | Joan Ellen Smuda | Q | Eileen O’Neill Burke | Q | Thomas Francis Biesty | Q | Kenneth L. Fletcher | Q | Thomas Flannigan | Q | Michael John Halloran | Q | Pamela Elizabeth Loza | Q | Laura J. Morask | NQ | Thomas R. Mulroy | Q | Michaela Nolan Ryan | NQ | Annie O’Donnell | Q | James E. Babcock, Jr. | Q | Joe Gump | Q | Ann Catherine Brady | Q | Paul S. Pavlus | Q | Guy M. Karm | Q | Margarita Kulys Hoffman | Q | George L. Straton | Q | Cary J. Collins | Q | Carol L. Barnes | NQ | Gary G. Stanton | Q | James N. O’Hara | NQ | Edward A. Arce | NQ | Michael Emmett McGinnis | Q | Donald Theodore Lyman | NQ | Thomas “TJ” Somer | NQ | Martin D. Coghlan | Q | Mary Louise Ryan Norwell | Q | William Joseph McGann | NQ | Peter Fera | Q | Anna Helen Demacopoulos | Q | Carl Evans, Jr. | Q | Thomas R. Mahoney | Q | Scott E. Lipinski | NQ | |
3 comments:
Did the ISBA give any explanation as to why certain candidates were rated as "Not Qualified"?
Fedup -- No, the ISBA does not provide explanations of its ratings. The only two bar associations which have traditionally provided written explanations are the Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Council of Lawyers.
Hi Jack-Just to let you and Fedup know, the ISBA had joined the Aliiance which some consider to be the special interest bar assoications a few years back and this year the Alliance required their application back in the last week of August after only a short time of even being available. Speaking for myself, I was out of town on our only annual family trip with my husband and two teenage boys before one goes off to college, and it was completely impossible to meet the strictly enforced deadline. By contrast the CBA, and the Northwest Suburban Bar required their applications and supporting documents in by November 19th. So if an application was not submitted to Alliance, they determined across the board to find NQ despite the reality of actually not being evaluated. Of note, in the recent past the Alliance has been criticized by the Illinois Supreme Court for the secrecy in their process. Because of this and other problems, the CBA broke with them years ago after a trial effort of conducting joint evaluations. As a result of above, the Isba is one of the few I did not receive from the major bar groups. I am proud to announce I was found Qualified by the CBA this past week. For other endorsements and upcoming events I commented in another area of your blog. Thank you. Laura Morask, 12th Judicial Subcircuit Candidate
Post a Comment