CBA recommends "yes" vote for 60 of 62 jurists seeking retention

The Chicago Bar Association today released its ratings of the 62 jurists seeking retention on the November ballot.

The CBA found all but two of these jurists qualified for retention.

Singled out as "Not Recommended" for retention were Cook County Circuit Court Judges Mauricio Araujo and Patricia Manila Martin.

Judge Martin told both the CBA and the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening that she was planning to retire from the bench but did not withdraw from the ballot in time.

Neither Judge Araujo nor Judge Martin participated in the CBA's evaluation process and were automatically rated "Not Recommended" as a result.

The Judicial Inquiry Board has filed a complaint against Judge Araujo before the Illinois Courts Commission. Araujo is current assigned to administrative duties (colloquially referred to as "judges' jail") pending the disposition of the JIB complaint.

The CBA ordinarily issues narratives explaining its candidate ratings. The CBA's ratings for candidates seeking election to the bench this year are published in its "Judge Smart Guide" (which can be linked from this page of the CBA website), but nearly all of these candidates are running uncontested.

However, as has been noted elsewhere, this is the Year of Never Ending Pandemic. "In light of impact of COVID-19 on the judicial evaluation process," said Ann Glynn, the CBA's Public Affairs Director, "the CBA’s Judicial Evaluation Committee rules were amended this year to eliminate the inclusion of a statement of reasons for those judges who have been found qualified in a retention election."

In a written statement, issued with the ratings today, Timothy S. Tomasik, Second Vice President of the CBA and a former General Chair of the CBA JEC, stated, "Judicial independence is the cornerstone of our democracy and judges are required to apply the law fairly and equally to all who appear before them. It is reprehensible for politicians and politically backed organizations masquerading as independent judicial watchdog groups to use innuendo and guilt-by-association tactics in the media to unfairly discredit the reputations of qualified men and women who are serving honorably as members of Illinois' judiciary."

Tomasik's statement continued, "Politically motivated attacks on the judiciary are antithetical to the justice system and undermine the core values of our judiciary. These attacks cannot be ignored and/or tolerated without endangering the independence of the entire court system. There is good reason why the founders of our country created three separate but equal branches of government and the independence of each must be preserved."