The Tribune is now reporting the death of one-time judicial primary winner Rhonda Crawford.
Instead of presiding over trials, Crawford was about to stand trial on an official misconduct charge: After winning her 2016 primary election, but before actually being elected, Crawford donned a robe and presided over at least a few traffic cases in a Markham courtroom. Once this news got out, Crawford was fired from her job as a law clerk, suspended from the practice of law, and barred from taking judicial office, even though she was running unopposed. (The real judge who allowed Ms. Crawford to pretend to be a judge was subsequently retired by order of the Illinois Courts Commission.)
FWIW has heard from multiple sources that Ms. Crawford took her own life.
If true (and I have no reason to doubt my sources), this is a terrible, and unnecessary, end to a sad, sordid saga.
It's just a job.
It's a good job. Nice salary. Top-flight benefits. Above-average working conditions.
And more: It can provide at least a chance to do some tangible good in a terrible world.
It's a job that so many FWIW readers desperately want; it's a job that I have coveted for a quarter of a century.
But it's still just a job.
It's not worth dying for.
Even for one who came so close, but who fumbled it all away.
We'll be back to regular programming here soon. But, for now, I pray for Ms. Crawford's friends and family and for the peaceful repose of her soul.
I am so sorry.
Updated to add this statement from the office of Chief Judge Timothy Evans: "Chief Judge Evans is saddened to hear of Ms. Crawford’s passing and offers his condolences to her family and friends during this difficult time."
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For more reading: Guest Post: Recognizing, understanding, and referring a colleague in need
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18 comments:
Definitely not a job worth dying for. But you say it as if all of the fault lies with her. As one of our colleagues said best on a FB post, the blood of Rhonda Crawford is on the hands of many. Cook County Politics took her life. Period.
Anon 4/27 @3:34 p.m. -- I did not intend to assess fault and I don't believe I did.
I believe I saw the Facebook post to which you refer -- and I agree with much of it, particularly regarding the over-prosecution of Ms. Crawford's case. What she did was dumb. (She admitted that.) It was probably disqualifying. But I never did understand the reason for the criminal prosecution.
I thought that the threat of prosecution was a bargaining chip to induce Ms. Crawford to withdraw from the ballot and, perhaps, surrender her law license. I was wrong.
I don't know about "bloodthirsty media" or "local elitists." I do know this is all very, very sad.
This was a national story and brought her a lot of shame. It cost her a judgeship, a law license, her job, her future - and a felony conviction would have cost her the nursing degree she had earned before lawsuit. At this point to be 45 or 46 and not even have the ability to earn a living after being so close to making $170,000 a year is tough. Really tough. She was a nurse, an associate and then a law clerk earning less than $60k a year with a law degree 14 years out of law school. She earned more as a nurse than a lawyer. It is certainly not worth dying for but being put through this national embarrassment might even be too much for me. its s sad situation all around and it made me depressed hearing this news.
This is absolutely awful. How she must have been suffering inside. Prayers and condolences to her family.
She never should have been charged with a felony for this unfortunate error in judgment. Overkill. She had paid enough. Shame on prosecutors.
She made a stupid mistake. Discipline her. Maybe not allow her to become a judge. But to suspend her license? Charge her with a felony? Evans, ARDC, the Illinois Supreme Court, and the State's attorney office all have blood on their hand. For a profession that laments about the lack of compassion and empathy for pro se litigants and the community, it is extremely unfair to one of its own when a mistake is made. Hypocrites that live in glass houses.
Some can have a hand in getting an innocent man incarcerated and steal years of his life and still receive a Supreme Court Appointment to the Bench. "No comment" Some can take months and months of questionable sick leave while collecting full judicial salary and benefits. "No comment" Some can be convicted of a felony and refuse to step down from the Bench. "No comment" Some can park fire trucks with campaign signs at the foot of the courthouse steps. "No comment"
Yesterday I was too upset to write and beg you to please remove the update to this post that whereby Pat Milhizer conveys the condolences of Chief Judge Timothy Evans. The condolences of Tim Evans are unwelcome and hollow. Instead of firing Rhonda maybe the truth could have been conveyed from the Chief Judge that this wonderful woman's actions were dictated in large part by her excitement and eagerness to work. This was acknowledged by many in private. Yes, she wanted to work. All she wanted to do was work and did so under the eye of another judge right out in the open. Rhonda was educated, smart, well spoken, and liked to help people. Before law, she was trained as a nurse. She had a huge heart and friends and family that loved her. Our hearts are broken.
Her punishment never seemed to stop. She was fired from her job, her law licensed suspended, barred from being sworn in as a judge, and she was criminally prosecuted which put her nursing license and her freedom in jeopardy. For what? It seems to me that Rhonda was treated severely because her case could be then be used publicly to balance the scale of all the friends of the 26th floor or 160 N. LaSalle who break rules or laws or behave in ways that bring the judiciary in disrepute and the only response from the 26th floor is "No comment".
Today I am not going to beg that the condolences from Chief Judge Evans be removed. Everyone should pray for Rhonda and her family. Everyone should know what a smart and compassionate person she was. Everyone should know that the world is a much poorer place without her in it. And then everyone should consider the role Chief Judge Evans had in all of this and read his statement over and over and over again. And then everyone should ask themselves is that the person who should be the Chief Judge of Cook County.
May you rest in peace dear sweet Rhonda.
Hello everyone. E. P. here.
Rhonda Crawford made a mistake. No doubt about it. A stupid mistake with the help of a sitting judge who should have known better.
But the most this lawyer (and registered nurse) should have suffered was the inability to take the seat she had won and a 3 to 6 month suspension of her law license.
Her actions certainly did not warrant a felony charge. A misdemeanor, maybe. A felony, of course not. If found guilty of a misdemeanor she would have been allowed her to keep both her law and nursing licenses.
At a time when our so-called leaders should have been gently guiding her through a contrition and remediation process, they decided to feed her to the wolves instead. Red meat for the masses and the media.
They decided it was best to humiliate her, to force into submission, to bring shame upon her and her family in order to induce her into throwing in the towel and walking away from it all. And it obviously became too much for her to bear. I can't imagine how sad, lonely, depressed and tortured she must have felt in her final hours.
This tragedy was the result of prosecutorial overkill, and the reactionary policies of the spineless leadership in our legal community. They would rather cover their own backsides and pander to the press than do the right thing.
The next time any of us hears any of these hypocrites talk about restorative justice and second chances we should remind them about the Rhonda Crawford case. Throw it right in their faces and see them run like the cowards they are.
Judge Chevere, Ret., was right when she wrote in her Facebook page that our legal, political and judicial colleagues have Rhonda Crawford’s blood on their hands. Absolutely shameful.
May she rest in eternal peace.
As always, E. P.
The same vial perverted hypocritical judicial system that Targeted woman for spiritual genocide which resulted in her choosing to leave this demented environment. This woman had a good heart and meant well and loved others and that was her Blackness but those around her did their best and succeeded at destroying her for no good reason. Thank God there is a judge who will judge these who are guilty and may they burn in hell for their crime of murder of her spirit. This woman dedicated her life to working hard and her donning a judge's robe was an act of childlike innocence with no evil intent no desire to subvert or pervert the very judicial system that destroyed her but simply to enjoy and have a taste of that what she desired with all our heart to do. May God give her mercy and rest in the Realms of Eternity and may He thrust those guilty of what they did to her into the very bowels of hell which they so much deserve.
There are no words to convey what an unnecessary tragedy this is. The handling of this matter is an affront to everything the judiciary is supposed to stand for and a stain on Timothy Evans. Over the past several years in particular there have been several incidences involving Cook County Judges which have spotlighted perplexing responses and actions from the Chief Judge's Office. The incredibly harsh handling of Ms. Crawford illustrates this dysfunction to a higher degree than past occurrences. I am not a judge but from an outsider's perspective I believe the time has come for them to elect a new Chief Judge. It has evolved from regrettable to tragic. Enough is enough.
E.P. is right.
No organizations tried to help Crawford
People gave Crawford wrong advice from the beginning to get her out of her seat she won.
E.P. is right.
Crawford’s blood is on them.
I have printed some comments here I would ordinarily have flushed -- this tragedy has triggered some very strong, and genuine, emotional responses and I think it may be helpful for some people to be aware of these reactions who might not otherwise hear them.
However, for the record, Friday morning, after I first heard about Ms. Crawford's passing, I solicited -- asked for -- reaction and comment from a number of persons, most of whom had not yet heard the news. When I heard back from Chief Judge Evans's office, I included that comment in an update. Whatever else one may think of the Chief Judge's role in the events leading up to Ms. Crawford's passing, I do not think it fair to criticize him for responding to my request for comment.
First and foremost, I send the sincerest condolences to Rhonda Crawford's family and friends. There is absolutely no controversy on this earth worth losing your life.
However, I think the criticism of this situation (from which I would assume are mostly those affiliated with the judiciary) comes far too late.
I personally think it is unfair that the commentators on this blog post are blaming the death of Ms. Crawford on the Chief Judge. Most of the commentators have a legal background and training, I'm assuming. We all know that we need to take emotion out of this situation and make comments based on logic.
This entire situation is unfortunate and I'm very saddened by it. However, to blame Chief Judge Evans for this horrible occurrence is also unfair. If he would not have handled this matter the way he did, then the same anonymous posters would comment on this blog criticizing him for not taking the same action for the initial incident. Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. It's always easiest to blame leadership when the entire system is flawed.
This is a time for all of us in the law to show compassion to our fellow colleagues. Check on those you haven't heard from in a while. For those of you who have the honor of serving on the bench, be kinder to the litigants that appear before you. For those of you who practice in the courts, be more cordial and civil to your opponent. This is about humanity, compassion, cordiality, civility and mental health. The practice can wear on us all! If you didn't extend a hand to Ms. Crawford during her battle here on earth, then YOU are just as responsible for her situation as anyone else. To put this burden or the blood of another on anyone's hands is unfair and unjust.
I can understand the emotion and the passion because we all feel sorry for the loss behind this story. But let us not lose our logic in this situation. Let us all remember to be more compassionate to each other because we all are facing challenges that no one else knows about. To blame the Chief Judge is to dodge your responsibility as a fellow professional in this space and that's not right either.
Wishing you all peace in this matter and continued prayers to the friends and families most affected.
It is terrible that she took her own life. And, I don't think what she did warrants criminal prosecution. But, as a litigator I don't think it was a small mistake. The fact that she didn't know better is strong evidence (as is her background which was lacking in trial experience) that she wasn't close to being qualified to take the bench. She should have stepped down from the election. That would pretty clearly have been the right thing to do.
Regardless, condolences to her friends and family. It's a terrible outcome.
I really do not understand the thinking behind the last several comments. Evans has been the Chief Judge since 2001 and is currently serving his 6th term. If the system is "flawed" who then should be held accountable if not leadership? I have always found Evan's use of the Executive Committee (that he formed) a clean way for him to dodge or avoid full responsibility or potential repercussions for decisions that he should shoulder alone. Any one of us can file an ARDC complaint against an attorney or a JIB complaint against a fellow judge. A committee is not required. A lot of intelligent and considerate judges serve on that committee and rubber stamp actions that may be politically or personally motivated. How that insults them, us, and the profession.
Comments reflecting that some protected individuals get a pass and others are dealt with harshly are not wrong. How Ms. Crawford was dealt with by leadership could not have been more wrong. Logic or emotion was not the primary consideration of anyone but rather how does this affect or reflect upon leadership.
Full disclosure, I am not a fan of Tim Evans. I have seen a lot of good people quit, not seek retention, or worse, just show up to work everyday believing that our noble profession is no longer noble and Cook County is no place for judges with high moral principles and ideals. I doubt anyone would be surprised if I said there is a lot more going on than the few rare stories that make the paper every now and then.
I do not take responsibility for what happened to Ms. Crawford. I never knew her but I wish I did. I would have told her that the job is not as great as everyone thinks it is. The salary and benefits do not compare to that of successful attorneys. My doctor at Northwestern does not want to take my State of Illinois medical insurance because they are over one year behind in paying claims. The court facilities are filthy. The tier two pension is not great. Outside of four square blocks in Chicago no one is impressed with your job title. You are in a position to do far less good for people than you would like. Leadership, in my opinion, is not what it needs to be. This job is nothing to covet.
I am sure Ms. Crawford would have made a very fine judge. Bringing up her litigation experence or bar ratings is so uncalled for it is pathetic. She was enthusiastic, educated, and had life experence. She had what she needed. The bottom line is that something unspeakable happened and there are actual people in authority that made terribly poor and misguided decisions that factored in to this tragedy and those actual people should be held accountable.
Wow, great comment, Tuesday, May 01, 2018 9:59:00 AM. Very accurate and very well said. I strongly concur with every word.
May 1 9:59 got it right. Evans and the Supremes played hard against Crawford because they were embarrassed and a lot of clouted friends would have gone down had a trial ever taken place. Oh, and there are more indictments on unrelated offenses to come. Rhonda Crawford's petty mistake will pale in comparison.
I never met Ms. Crawford, but this story brings me close to tears. Such profound sadness at this tragic loss.
Many people, for better or worse, attach a significant part of our identities to our careers. Any one of these events would be enough to totally disrupt ones life; but the cumulative nature of the embarrassment, loss of license, loss of a won election, pending felony could - and presumably did - destroy someone.
I firmly believe that had Ms. Crawford’s error in judgement been kept quiet, she’d be on the bench today. If she had super clout, rules would have been bent, and narratives re-written.
Since the public knew and she did not have strong juice, she was made an example of, a sacrificial lamb, with no regard to the life they were destroying. It is heartbreaking. Gang mentality, a public stoning, Hester Prynne. Judges caught up in Greylord were given more deference.
May her troubled soul be at rest.
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