Lawyers lay it on thick: Pallasch writes about judicial slating

Abdon Pallasch's article today in the Chicago Sun-Times, "Lawyers aspiring to be Cook County judges lay it on thick," gives an eyewitness account of the Cook County Democratic Party's recent judicial slating meeting. An excerpt:

Every two years lawyers in Cook County who want to be judges come before this gathering and ask to be “slated” as the party’s preferred choice for judge in Democratic primary election March 20. The November general election is irrelevant as no Republican has won in decades.

Voters are more independent these days and they sometimes opt to vote for judicial candidates with prettier names — women with Irish onesdo best.

But the official party imprimatur still works wonders. Slated candidates’ names go on the palm cards that the still-strong army of precinct captains across the county pass out to voters as they walk into the polling place. Five of the 10 slated candidates won last year.

Voters can make up their own minds on governor or senator — candidates they have heard something about. But chances are they will have heard nothing about the 100-plus names of lawyers running for 16-20 judgeships until they see the ballot on Election Day. They can make their choices based the gender or ethnicity of those names, or they can look at the palm card.

Go read the rest at suntimes.com.