Livestream today at 3:00 p.m. -- "Improving the Bench: Importance of Judical Quality and Diversity in Cook County"

Updated October 19, 2020 to note that this presentation was recorded and can be watched online at your convenience.

Today's program is the second of three planned forums planned by the Collaboration for Justice, a partnership of the Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed.

Organizers have provided this description of the reasons and purposes of today's event:

A high-quality judiciary - the foundation of equitable and effective courts - relies on public oversight of the performance of sitting judges. In Cook County, some judges are elected by the public on a countywide or precinct (“Subcircuit”) basis; others - Associate Judges - are peer-elected by a majority of sitting judges after an application process. Associate Judges submit applications to the Illinois Supreme Court at the end of their four-year term in order to be retained, whereas Circuit and Subcircuit judges must campaign for reelection every six years (for all three types of judges, nearly all who run for retention are retained).

In 2013, a Chicago Appleseed analysis of the 397 sitting judges in Cook County suggested that the Associate judge process was leading to a higher-quality, more diverse judiciary than did the public election process, but more recent findings show no real difference in the racial composition of judges - regardless of whether they are appointed or elected. In order to make informed ballot decisions, the public must have access to transparent and objective reports of individuals judges’ histories, behaviors, and practices. Join us as we discuss the importance of voting for judges and speak with legal experts, journalists, and civic organizers about strategies to improve and diversify - in more than just a representative way - the Cook County bench.

Just a little clarification here: Associate judges do not ordinarily have four year terms when initially chosen. Per Illinois Supreme Court Rule 39(a)(1), the terms of all associate judges across the state expire "on June 30th of every fourth year subsequent to 1975 [presently June 30, 2023], regardless of the date on which any judge is appointed." Associate judges seeking to remain in office do not apply to the Supreme Court; rather, they must submit, per Rule 39(c)(1), "a request for reappointment with the chief judge of the circuit at least three months but not more than six months before the expiration of his or her term." The chief judge certifies the names of the candidates seeking retention to the Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, and the Director prepares and distributes a retention ballot to each circuit judge in that circuit (Rule 39(c)(2)). An associate judge must secure "yes" votes from three-fifths of the circuit judges voting in order to be reappointed (Rule 39(c)(3)).

Also, the distinction between subcircuit and circuit judges evaporates at retention time: All face the entire county electorate.

In any event, Mari Cohen, an Assistant Editor of Jewish Currents and an author for South Side Weekly, will be the moderator for today's program.

Panelists will include Stevie Valles and Jen Dean, the Executive Director and Co-Deputy Director, respectively, of Chicago Votes; former Judge Travis Richardson; Rick Tulsky, a Co-Founder of Injustice Watch; and Malcolm Rich and Elizabeth Monkus, the Executive Director and Development and Access to Justice Program Coordinator for Chicago Appleseed. (Rich is also the Executive Director of the Chicago Council of Lawyers.)

Here's the link for the program.