Someone is going to be in a heap of trouble over this. Here is the updated press release from the Cook County Chief Judge's Office:
Highly offensive documents, falsely claiming to be orders from various current or retired Circuit Court of Cook County judges, are being circulated by some person or group, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans said on Wednesday. The documents are forgeries, and the Office of the Chief Judge finds the content appalling. The documents appear to be intended as a means of intimidating the recipients and others.
The documents use the names of several sitting and retired judges out of the Skokie Courthouse.
“I’m indignant over this blatant attack on the judiciary,” Judge Evans said. “By falsely attributing abusive and racist comments to Circuit Court of Cook County judges, it impugns their hard work and integrity and may create a dangerous situation.”
The Niles, Morton Grove, Skokie, and Evanston police departments, as well as the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, are investigating. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office also have been notified. The Office of the Chief Judge is fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities to discover who is circulating these fraudulent and disturbing documents.
The Office of the Chief Judge asks that anybody who receives a copy of one of these fraudulent documents contact the police.
Over the course of 40-some years, I have seen some faked orders. I recall one case in which a number were used to persuade a client that his or her case was ongoing -- although it had never been filed -- and the statute of limitations had been blown. Yes, that was in conjunction with a legal malpractice matter. And, many years ago, I recall a controversy about falsified time stamps on documents filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court -- not merely inaccurate dates (although that sometimes happened also) but deliberately falsified ones to make documents that were late appear timely. That didn't end well for the lawyers or the clerks involved either.
UPDATE: Since this post appeared, I have received a copy of one of these new faked "orders" from CWB Chicago. The document provided is offensive, and deliberately so. It even provides paranthetical translations of the racist slurs it uses. But it in no way, shape, or form resembles an actual court order. It certainly falls far, far short of the faked orders I was recalling in the paragraph above.
Initially I assumed that the fake order must have appeared sufficiently authentic to warrant the level of concern evident in the Chief Judge's press release. That would have suggested that the person or persons in question had some working knowledge of court systems and procedures. But, once again, I am reminded that one should never assume. And I do understand that the average person, having little or no contact with the court system, might not recognize how clumsy a forgery this is. And that is the source of the concern. I'll continue to update this story if I can.
------------------------------------------------------Related coverage:
Racist letters sent to Evanston restaurants faked to look like court orders -- Chicago Sun-Times
Fake court orders containing hate messages sent to local restaurants -- Evanston RoundTable
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2 comments:
Which current and former judges' stamps were used? How did they get the judge's stamps? Don't Tim Evans and the judges safeguard their stamps? Do appointed judges who step down surrender their stamps? Typical lack of quality control at the Circuit Court of Cook County (under Evans' "leadership" has given these degenerates opportunities for creating problems that never would have existed had Evans exercised the bare minimum level of competence).
Disgusted On All Fronts
Not meaning to pick on you specifically, Anon 9/28 @ 11:24 a.m., but your comment is illustrative of the serious reading comprehension problems that seem to plague online readers. There were no stamps used. I updated the post on September 23 in an effort to make that clear -- I had wondered about that myself initially -- and I'm pretty sure I did in fact make that clear as soon as I found out.
And yet you said what you said.
Not cool. But not surprising given the drop in reading comprehension that comes when moving from paper to pixels.
And yet we efile briefs and motions in multi-million dollar cases and expect jurists to make the best possible decisions while reading on their screens.
* Sigh *
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