Valuable resource for downstate judicial voters -- and more information for judicial voters in Cook County, too

FWIW readers know that this blog focuses on Cook County judicial races -- but there are 101 other counties in Illinois besides County Cook.

If you are a voter in one of those other counties who may have arrived here via search engine, may I redirect you to IllinoisJudges.net, a service of the Illinois Civil Justice League. Visitors will find links there to, and information about, every single judicial race in the entire state -- including our own home semisweet home, Cook County.

Some of the Cook County coverage on IllinoisJudges.net links back to posts on FWIW (for which I'm grateful). But the ICJL also asks all judicial candidates to provide responses its questionnaire. This year, the ICJL asked judicial candidates to answer these questions:

1. State the qualifications and experiences that make you qualified to serve on the bench in Illinois.
2. One prominent Illinois judicial evaluation survey asks attorneys to evaluate candidates on Integrity, Impartiality, Legal Ability and Temperament. Critique yourself in these four areas as to how they make you qualified to serve on the bench.
3. Describe the case in which you are most proud of your work as a lawyer.
4. Name one change you would make in the Illinois court system.
5. Are there civil litigation reforms that you would like to see enacted to remedy particular problems that you have detected, either as a practicing lawyer or as a sitting judge? Are there reforms that would benefit the civil justice system? What needs to be changed? Should the enactment of any such changes be the province of the legislature, the Supreme Court or by Constitutional amendment?
6. Do you believe that our judicial system adequately deters and penalizes frivolous litigation? If not, what reforms would you like to see?
7. Do you believe the Illinois Constitution precludes legislative establishment of limitations on civil damages? Are there or should there be distinctions among economic, non-economic and punitive damages?

Cook County judicial candidates answering this questionnaire include Bertina E. Lampkin (candidate for the 1st District Appellate Court - Quinn vacancy), John Fitzgerald Lyke, Jr. (countywide Biebel, Jr. vacancy), Rossana Patricia Fernandez (countywide Elrod vacancy), Alison C. Conlon (countywide Hogan vacancy), Carolyn J. Gallagher (countywide Johnson vacancy), Devlin J. Schoop (countywide Karnezis vacancy), Maureen O'Donoghue Hannon (countywide O'Brien vacancy), Pat Heneghan (countywide Palmer vacancy), John E. Marszaelk and Daniel Patrick Duffy (Ruscitti Grussel vacancy), and Patrick Joseph Powers and Fredrick H. Bates (countywide Walsh vacancy).

Cook County subcircuit candidates answering the ICJL questionnaire were Maryam Ahmad (1st Subcircuit - Brim vacancy), Chelsey R. Robinson and D. Renee Jackson (2nd Subcircuit - Savage vacancy), Leonard Murray (5th Subcircuit - Eadie-Daniels vacancy), Richard C. Cooke (6th Subcircuit - Santiago vacancy), Mable Taylor and Rosa Silva (7th Subcircuit - Rivkin-Carothers vacancy), Colleen Reardon Daly and Richard "Rick" Cenar (10th Subcircuit - Howard vacancy), and William B. Sullivan (11th Subcircuit - Zwick vacancy).

Three candidates for Kazmierski, Jr. vacancy in the 12th Subcircuit responded to the ICJL questionnaire, Louis George Apostol, Marguerite Anne Quinn, and Frank J. Andreou. Also responding to the ICJL questionnaire were Carrie Hamilton (12th Subcircuit - Tristano vacancy) and James Edward Hanlon, Jr. (12th Subcircuit - "A" vacancy).