Thursday, June 30, 2022

Inaugural Induction Ceremony for the Order of Themis set for July 13

The inaugural induction ceremony for the newly-formed Order of Themis, the Hellenic Judges Association, will take place on Wednesday, July 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Rooftop at Avli on the Park, 180 North Field Blvd.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans will conduct the induction of the officers and directors of this new organization.

Tickets for the event are $125 each and will include appetizers, beer, and wine. A cash bar will also be available. Sitting and retired judges will recieve a one-year membership in the Order of Themis with the purchase of a ticket.

Tickets are available through this Eventbrite link but, if you want to show off your techno-skills, you can probably accomplish this same task by scanning the QR code in the image above. I make no warranties in this regard however.

Looking at the numbers, such as they are, in the Subcircuit races

For Part 1 of this survey, see this post which looks at turnout numbers as a whole and results in countywide races for the Circuit and Appellate Courts.

All of the caveats set out in Part 1 apply here -- numbers will change -- margins will shrink or grow as VBM ballots are received and accounted for. I'm using a calculator and wearing my glasses but accept full responsibility for any addition errors that may occur when I combine results in subcircuits that extend across City and suburban boundaries. Where the margins are now small, when the final results are known, some races may appear to have 'flipped.'

They will not have 'flipped' of course; it is only the order in which ballots are received and counted that makes it look as if races have 'flipped' -- as FWIW readers surely know. The results in the 13th Subcircuit, on the Democratic side at least, will probably not be determined until the last timely votes are relinquished by the postal authorities... although, what was a seven vote margin for Gump is now over 100 votes in Gump's favor.

With all this in mind, we start looking at subcircuit results.

City and Suburban Subcircuits
City-only Subcircuits
Suburban-only Subcircuits

Looking at the numbers, such as they are, in Cook County judicial races

Part 1

The Chicago Board of Elections reports that there are 1,498,813 registered voters in our fair city. I know for a fact that this figure is off by at least two: Two of my daughters still show up as registered voters in my home precinct, registered at my home address, although both are properly registered, and actually vote, in the suburbs where they in fact live.

But we will use the City's figure anyway. According to the CBOE, 297,802 of these 1,498,813 registered voters performed their most basic civic duty, voting in this week's primary. That's a turnout figure of 19.9%.

The Cook County Clerk's Office, which manages suburban elections, says there are 1,630,741 registered voters in what the first Mayor Daley used to call 'the county towns.' Of these, 311,752 are reported to have voted in Tuesday's primary. That's a 19.1% turnout.

Put it together: There are 3,129,554 reported registered voters in Cook County. Of these, 19.5% came out Tuesday (or earlier) -- 609,554.

But wait: It gets worse.

Ours is a partisan primary system, of course. One must choose a Democratic or Republican ballot, or some other, in order to vote in the primary. I kind of want to meet the six reported persons who took out "nonpartisan ballots" in the City of Chicago in this primary. They might be an interesting group. There were 1,077 "nonpartisan" voters in the suburbs, but there were referenda and other questions on some suburban ballots that might have brought out persons who would otherwise have stayed home, lest their partisan affiliation become known to their neighbors.

There were 878 Libertarian voters in the City and another 1,127 in the suburbs, and the suburbs also had 72 Green Party voters.

Day after day, night after night, in every TV program, on every channel, for several months now, until Tuesday, Chicago area viewers were subjected to an endless barrage of commercials for and against Irwin, Bailey, or Sullivan. Republican commercials for, or against, one of these three. Democratic commercials for Bailey and against Irwin. Pritzker spent millions. Ken Griffin spent millions. Dick Uihlein spent millions.

And for what? Or, more specifically, for whom?

There were a grand total of 130,550 voters who took Republican ballots in this primary, 32,834 in the City and 97,716 in the suburbs. That's 4.2% of all registered voters.

In any event, that leaves 475,844 voters who took Democratic ballots in this primary election, 264,084 in the City and 211,760 in the suburbs. That's 15.2% of the registered voters in the county as a whole.

And these few, these hardy few, decided all of the judicial elections in Cook County for 2022 (save one).

Because all the winners of the Democratic judicial primaries (except in one 13th Subcircuit race) are all unopposed in November.

This is great -- and I do not mean to suggest otherwise -- for the individual candidates who won their races and are now assured of taking office come the first Monday in December. But how can this be healthy for society as a whole?

In other words, no one should be criticized for playing by the rules -- that's what we're all supposed to do -- but maybe we should reflect, from time to time, whether the rules might need just a little revision. Like, for example, whether we might be better served with non-partisan primaries for judges, so that the 130,000 or so of our neighbors who were browbeaten into voting for Irwin or Bailey or Sullivan are not denied any voice in the selection of judges. (And the six City voters who took non-partisan ballots would not be shut out either.)

Some of the above numbers may change, a little, by the time the results are certified. The rough percentages will not. And there are still mail-in ballots that may have posted in a timely fashion that remain in the clutches of the United States Postal Service.

As of yesterday, the Cook County Clerk reports, there were still 27,387 votes 'uncounted' in the suburbs. Of this number, only 126 are mail-in ballots that are received but not yet tabulated. Some of these others are provisional ballots, not counted because registration was in question, or for other reasons like that, but the bulk of this large number, some 26,319, represents ballots which were sent out, at voters' request, but which have not yet been returned.

Not all of these are coming back. But the law requires that we wait two weeks to be absolutely sure.

I don't have City figures; if they are published, I haven't found them, but it seems safe to say they may be similar.

So the following figures may also change but, as you will see, in these races, the margins appear sufficient to overcome any likely last-minute mail-in ballots.

What follows are the countywide results for the Circuit and Appellate Courts (subcircuit results will follow in the next post). I have combined City and suburban totals. I have used a calculator and I have my glasses handy; these careful precautions notwithstanding, all errors of addition are mine (click to enlarge or clarify any image):

Appellate Court
Circuit Court (countywide)

In case you were wondering....

The Cook County Clerk did publish am Official List of Write-In Candidates for Suburban Cook County. None were candidates for any judicial vacancy in any party primary.

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Wright leading in 5th Subcircuit race

With 86.38% of the available votes counted, Timothy W. Wright III is holding a 4,000-vote lead over his nearest rival in the four-person race for the Shelley vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit.

Former Judge Jackie Marie Portman-Brown was a candidate in this race. She was defeated for retention in the 2020 general election.

In the race for the Portman-Brown vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit, appointed Judge David L. Kelly still holds a just-better-than 2,000 vote margin over Jenetia Marshall.

Rochford to face Curran for Supreme Court seat?

CapitolFax.com is linking to the Tribune tonight for election returns. And here's a screen grab from the Tribune showing Judge Elizabeth Rochford ahead, as I believe was expected, in her bid for the Democratic nomination for the new Second Judicial District seat on the Illinois Supreme Court. Over 80% of those votes are counted.

More surprising, perhaps, is that former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran is leading, albeit narrowly, in his bid for the Republican nomination for that seat. Note, however, that only 61% of these votes are shown:

DuPage County was always the 'big dog' in the old 2nd Judicial District; Lake County was always the scrappy little brother. Now Lake County is probably the biggest county in the new judicial district (Kane must come close but I haven't looked it up). So maybe it's not that big a surprise that both candidates for the Supreme Court would come from Lake County. We'll see how it shakes out... tomorrow.

13th Subcircuit - Seyring to face TBA in November. Probably.

Unless you live in the far northwest corner of Cook County, if you took a Republican ballot today, you had no one to vote for in either Appellate Court race, or in any of the 10 countywide races. And only if you live in the far northwest corner of Cook County did you have any judicial candidates to choose from at all: There were three vying for the Republican nomination there.

And it appears that Gary William Seyring bested two challengers to win the Republican nomination for the Groebner vacancy in the 13th Subcircuit. His margin is 1,693 votes, at this point, over Dominic J. Buttitta, Jr. Only six of the 208 precincts in the 13th have yet to report in this race.

So this result should probably hold. But... who knows what is lurking in the postal system?

For the record, there were 18,676 total Republican ballots taken out in this traditionally Republican area.

On the Democractic side, some 25,081 ballots were taken out. And, at this moment, with only six precincts still outstanding, Joe Gump has a seven vote margin over James "Jack" Costello, 10,494 to 10,487.

Yikes.

I will venture a prediction here: Either Costello or Gump will eventually prevail and wind up facing Seyring in November. Probably.

How's that for fearless?

Countywide cliffhanger?

Chicago Ald. Howard B. Brookins, Jr. has a margin of barely 100 votes over Lisa Michelle Taylor in suburban returns in the race for the countywide Brennan vacancy. In City returns, however, with 93.62% of the available votes counted, Brookins trails Taylor by 11,000 votes.

Is this a cliffhanger? In a race with turnout that ranged from dismal to abysmal, and who-knows-how-many votes that may actually be coming back to the election authorities in the mail, it may turn out to be a cliffhanger. Or not.

In the other countywide race that seemed close earlier in the evening, Elizabeth "Beth" Ryan has a 10,000 vote margin in City returns and an almost 15,000 vote margin in the suburbs. Which seems pretty safe.

Close races in the 9th and 11th Subcircuits?

Barry Goldberg has a just-better-than 400 vote margin in City returns in his bid for the Jacobius vacancy in the 9th Subcircuit, but he's ahead by better than 4,500 votes in the suburbs. It looks like this is going to be a tough gap for any of the other three candidates to close.

This 9th Subcircuit race is closer than the other one, where Judge Sanjay Tailor is cruising to a win, but it may not be all that close.

A close race does appear to have occurred in the 11th Subcircuit, where Chicago Ald. Chris Taliaferro has about a 400 vote margin over Aileen Bhandari in City returns (with 98.48% of the available votes counted) but about an 1,800 vote deficit in the suburbs. VBM may well be decisive in this race.

Brad Trowbridge looks like he's won in the 8th Subcircuit

Stephen Swedlow is besting Jennifer Bae by better than 5,000 votes in the race for the Lipscomb vacancy in the 8th Subcircuit. Swedlow seems to have had a lot of backing from the local politicos, so perhaps the margin may be seen as disappointing to some.

But that's silly. All that matters (or should matter) to the candidate is getting one more vote than the next highest finisher.

Bradley R. Trowbridge has a better than 10,000 vote margin over the next closest competitor in the three-way race for the Gordon vacancy in the 8th. Third time may be the charm in his case.

Marcia O'Brien Conway looks like a winner in 7th Subcircuit race

The margin is over 3,000 votes in the suburban returns. But there are more City than suburban precincts in the 7th and her margin is only about 400 votes in the City returns. But 87.17 of the City votes have been counted, and all of the available suburban votes have been tallied, too.

So I won't climb too far out on the limb just yet. But this margin seems healthier than some.

Kantas, Raines-Welch ahead in 4th Subcircuit races

It turns out that the endorsement of the Mayor of Riverside was not decisive in the race for the Rogers vacancy. Shawnte Raines-Welch, the wife of the Speaker of the Illinois House, did not have that endorsement, but she apparently had a lot of others: She has about an 1,800 vote margin over Chloe Georgianna Pedersen, her nearest challenger in this four-person race.

With such a small margin, what may be decisive is VBM returns. I'm not climbing out on any limbs. But 98% of the available votes have been counted.

In the race for the Gavin vacancy, Nick Kantas has a better than 2,220-vote margin over his challenger. Still not climbing out on limbs.

But those are the numbers for now.

Most sitting judges doing well in subcircuit races, but not all

Associate Judge Kerrie Maloney Laytin leads by a wide margin in the race for the Vega vacancy in the 6th Subcircuit. Judge Sanjay Tailor is likewise comfortably ahead in both City and suburban returns for the Cleveland vacancy in the 9th Subcircuit.

Judge David L. Kelly is ahead, too, but by a much narrower margin, in his race for the Portman-Brown vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit. While many other races report 90% or more of the votes counted at this still-early hour, only 79.8% of the votes have been counted in this race. Kelly's margin is only 1,825 votes.
In the 1st Subcircuit, however, Judge John W. Wilson is trailing Maria M. Barlow by 2,600 votes in City returns and another 1,200 in the suburbs.

Barrett apparent winner in 15th, Martinez in the 14th

Bernadette Barrett has coasted to victory in her bid for a 15th Subcircuit vacancy. I hope I've learned my lesson about VBM so I won't try to 'call' races unless it looks really clear. This one looks clear.

The margins are narrower in the contested 14th Subcircuit race. but it appears that Viviana Martinez will defeat both of the other candidates in the race for the Jaglielski vacancy.

There... see? I'm learning.

Donnelly, De La Cruz, and Gudino all leading in their countywide races

In both City and suburban returns.

Michael Weaver is also leading in his three-way race.

So... preliminarily... party slating accounts seems to have carried eight of ten slated candidates to victory.

Starting subcircuits next.

When there aren't that many votes... they get counted QUICKLY

Judges Debra B. Walker and Raymond W. Mitchell seem comfortably ahead in surprisingly complete returns reported by City and County election officials thus far.

Mitchell has 74,509 votes with 94% of precincts reported, about 12,000 votes ahead of Judge John Ehrlich, the Democratic Party's slated candidate. With some 80.6% of City precincts reporting, Mitchell is also about 25,000 votes ahead there, too.

Walker is over 23,000 votes ahead of the Democratic Party's slated candidate, Judge Dominique C. Ross, in City returns. In the suburbs, she's about 10,000 votes ahead of Ross.

Party candidates have fared better in countywide races.

Judge Tracie Porter is well ahead in the race for the Callahan, Jr. vacancy, Associate Judge Diana López seems well ahead in the race for the Gordon Cannon vacancy, and Thomas E. Nowinski is comfortably leading in the race for the Hyman vacancy. Judge Rena Marie Van Tine is well ahead in the race for the Leeming vacancy.

But Howard Brookins may be in trouble and Yolanda Harris Sayre definitely is.

More to come....

All over but the shouting now

As they used to say in the 60s, if you don't vote, you can't complain. I bought my ticket.

And I'm sure you did as well.

A great many of our friends and neighbors did not. As of 3:00 p.m., according to ABC-7, citywide turnout was only 14.7%, a dismal figure that includes early voting numbers.

But we can save that discussion for later.

For now, before any meaningful votes are counted, it is time to salute the efforts of the judicial candidates, and congratulate them. Win or lose, they did what they could and they deserve a moment of respite, before having to detail with the grubby deatails of who got more votes than whom.... More to come....

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Start here for the most complete information about every 2022 Cook County judicial race

Bumped up for greater visibility
Updated June 23, 2022

This is the interactive, voter-friendly part of FWIW. What follows is a list of every Cook County judicial vacancy on the June primary ballot. Click on any race. The post you'll land on will show all the candidates, in ballot order, with all the information about each candidate that I've been able to assemble. Where a candidate has provided FWIW with a statement, a link to that statement will be available from that post as well.

There is a link at the bottom of each of these Organizing the Data posts, so voters can examine each contested race in detail, one candidate at a time, and come right back here.

Every Organizing the Data post -- and this one -- will be updated as additional information comes in. I will bump this post up periodically in the days remaining before the primary.

Voters may want to read more about specific the endorsements listed below each candidate. If you click on this link you'll get all the Endorsement posts I've done. (Pro tip: Stop when you run out of 2022 posts.) And if you prefer an overall visualization, clicking here will get you to the latest Alliance grids that I have.

Anyway, here's the list of all judicial vacancies to be filled in the 2022 election. Again, each contested race is linked to an Organizing the Data post:
Appellate Court - Hall Vacancy
Appellate Court - Harris Vacancy

Countywide - Brennan Vacancy
Countywide - Callahan, Jr. Vacancy
Countywide - Gordon Cannon Vacancy
Countywide - Hyman Vacancy
Countywide - Ingram Vacancy
Countywide - Leeming Vacancy
Countywide - Lynch Vacancy
Countywide - McGury Vacancy
Countywide - O'Brien Vacancy
Countywide - Sullivan Vacancy

1st Subcircuit - Johnson Vacancy

4th Subcircuit - Gavin Vacancy
4th Subcircuit - Rogers Vacancy

5th Subcircuit - Portman-Brown Vacancy
5th Subcircuit - Shelley Vacancy

6th Subcircuit - Araujo Vacancy (uncontested)
6th Subcircuit - Vega Vacancy

7th Subcircuit - Martin Vacancy

8th Subcircuit - Gordon Vacancy
8th Subcircuit - Lipscomb Vacancy

9th Subcircuit - Cleveland Vacancy
9th Subcircuit - Jacobius Vacancy

11th Subcircuit - McGuire Vacancy

13th Subcircuit - Groebner Vacancy (Republican primary)
13th Subcircuit - Groebner Vacancy (Democratic primary)

14th Subcircuit - Brown Vacancy (uncontested)
14th Subcircuit - Jagielski Vacancy

15th Subcircuit - Lawler Vacancy

Serious questions raised in memo published by Injustice Watch about Cook County judicial candidate

About Judge Gudino, certainly. But about much more than Judge Gudino as well.

Let us assume -- indeed, let us stipulate -- that the facts as reported yesterday in the Injustice Watch story by Carlos Ballesteros and Maya Dukmasova, "Cook County judge accused of physical and verbal harassment when she was a prosecutor; office says allegations were 'unsubstantiated,'" are 100% accurate, namely, that there is a memo, written in 2018 by now-Judge Gudino's then-supervisor in the Office of the Cook County State's Attorney, which memo purports to document incidents of harassment and other unseemly conduct by Gudino toward her fellow ASAs. Given the most innocent construction possible, the memo at best sketches a person who cannot get along or work well with her colleagues.

There appears to be documentation -- the damning memo -- so there should be no reason not to run with the story, right?

I'm not an editor. But, if I were, and this story was presented to me, the documentation notwithstanding, I would want some additional questions answered, or at least explored, before I would let the story out. If I let it out at all.

Why is this memo only coming to light now?

In any sensational last-minute election story, the timing is always suspcious. We're used to these 11th-hour bombshells in other kinds of campaigns. In other elections candidates and their supporters are often anxious about an "October surprise." These kinds of stories are always damaging, but not always true. The veracity of the sensational challenges can not always be properly explored in the pressure-packed days before the election.

In judicial elections the timing is even more suspicious. And troubling. And why do I say that?

Because we have, or think we have, a very thorough evaluation system for judicial hopefuls -- two independent systems, actually -- the original, run by the Chicago Bar Association, and the other, run by the 12-member Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening.

The complete evaluations of Judge Gudino released by each of these bar groups is set out, in full, in my Organizing the Data post for the race in which Judge Gudino is a candidate.

But to summarize, Gudino was found qualified or better by every bar group that evaluated her credentials (the Arab American Bar Association did not evaluate Gudino, but that was not the candidate's fault). The Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago and the Puerto Rican Bar Association found Gudino Highly Recommended; the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois found Gudino Highly Qualified.

The Chicago Bar Association said Gudino is "well regarded" for her "excellent demeanor and temperament." The Chicago Council of Lawyers said Gudino is "praised for having an even keel temperament and for being hard-working." The Illinois State Bar Association said, "Attorneys report that [Gudino] is an excellent attorney with good litigation skills, professional, and a hard worker."

These evaluations are not pulled out of the ether, or from a crystal ball; rather, they are the product of lengthy, independent, and confidential investigation. Candidates have to fill out lengthy questionnaires for both the Alliance and the CBA (similar, but just different enough that copy-and-paste does not always work) disclosing not just references (anybody can find someone to say something nice about them), but also adversary references (people against whom one has had cases, who may not be automatically disposed to say anything nice about a judicial hopeful), and judicial references (judges before whom a candidate has appeared).

None of these inquiries may get to the persons referred to in the memo in Gudino's case, or to its author. But the questionnaires go deeper still. Quoting now from the Alliance questionnaire, a judicial hopeful is required to "[p]rovide the names and current contact information for at least four partners, associates, office-sharers, or other colleagues who are familiar with your work in that position. Indicate the status/title of each reference. At least one of these references should be a supervisor and one should be a subordinate, unless you had none, in which case you should so indicate."

I stressed that the evaluations are confidential. So even if -- just to hypothesize -- the memo in question was buried, and all concerned strictly admonished not to breathe a word about its contents under pain of some sort of sanction -- when a CBA or Alliance investigator calls supervisors or subordinates to follow up on the candidate's questionnaire disclosures, there was a perfectly safe opportunity to reveal the behaviors described in the memo. I can well imagine people keeping quiet about a troublesome colleague in the ordinary course of events (every trade or profession has its own code of silence when you stop to think about it) but I find it difficult to imagine that no one would mention troubling behavior, in confidence, to a bar investigator, when a safe opportunity to do so presented itself.

I am aware of instances, both as a former candidate subject to bar association screening, and as a close observer of the screening process (albeit from the outside) lo these many years, where unflattering information, once called to light about a candidate, has been thoroughly explored. As a candidate waiting for my own interview, I have sat outside hearing rooms where questions and answers became quite loud and heated.

So -- if the Gudino memo is accurate (in the sense of truthfully relating events that occurred) -- that means the investigation processes of both the Chicago Bar Association and the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening were defective and incomplete. With all due respect to Injustice Watch, that would be a much bigger story than salacious allegations against a single candidate on the eve of the primary.

But it would be a much harder story to report.

In this instance the confidential nature of the bar evaluation process would hurt more than it helps. We can't find out who the investigators were from the two bar groups; we can't see the disclosures the candidate made about supervisors and subordinates. We would have to depend on a whistle-blower from inside one or both groups to come forward -- in violation of their own written oaths, by the way -- to reveal whether the ball was dropped in this case or, even worse, whether unflattering evidence was simply ignored.

Oh, that would be a story: A slated candidate gets a pass from all the bar group JECs, despite information that may suggest unfitness for judicial service, because... because... because.... Oh, wait. There's no easy answer, is there? Because all the dozens of persons involved think the County Democratic Party will reward their turning a collective blind eye with their own judgeships someday? Sure. And 500,000 co-conspirators were involved in faking the Moon landings, too. That's tin-foil beanie stuff.

On the other hand, the memo can still be accurate (saying what it says) but unfounded in the sense that the things alleged did not happen, or did not happen in the way they were reported. For all we know -- at present, on the information actually available -- the bar evaluation process might have worked just as intended and at least some of the persons who were supposedly harassed were in fact interviewed and, despite having a "free shot," said only good things.

The point is that we don't know what the truth is here. And if I were the editor, I'd have been hesitant to let this story through.

At this time.

There are a lot of questions that come to mind reading all the bar group narratives. There are inconsistencies -- the same bar group said "no" to this candidate with a political background and limited courtroom experience but "yes" to a seemingly similar one. Some evaluation read like a clear "no" only to find, on the bottom line, that "on balance" the bar group says "yes." What balanced the scales in these cases? And other evaluations look, if not glowing, then at least as positive as many favorable reviews of other candidates, only to conclude that this particular candidate was not qualified. Why?

Charges of political partisanship, ethnic solidarity, age discrimination, packing of hearing rooms (with friends of the candidate, or enemies) always surface when bar evaluations come out. Some are surely sour grapes. Some disappointed persons will loudly insist that their references were never contacted. Perhaps sometimes this may be true.

So it's more than just a single candidate that is implicated by yesterday's Injustice Watch story. Whether it was intended as such or not, it is an indictment of the entire evaluation process -- and there is no memo available about that.

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Diana López: In her own words

Diana López is a candidate for the countywide Gordon Cannon vacancy. Her punch number is 167.
I am Judge Diana López and I am one of the ten Democratic slated candidates for Circuit Court Judge (Vacancy of Honorable Diane Gordon Cannon). I am a Chicago native and proud first-generation daughter of Cuban and Ecuadorian immigrants who instilled in me a strong work ethic that I have applied in my personal and professional life. My family and I live in Logan Square and proudly raise our daughter in one of the most diverse Chicago neighborhoods.

Prior to being appointed as an Associate Judge in 2021, I was an attorney for over 20 years. My career was dedicated to aiding families and children through some of the most difficult and joyous times in their lives. My most coveted role while I was a practitioner was to serve as an appointed Guardian ad Litem for the County Division Adoption Court and in the Domestic Relations Division in Cook County since 2006 and 2015, respectively. I dedicated my career to helping parents and the court system make informed decisions that were in the best interests of children and families. It is the experience that I gained in that role as a litigator, Guardian ad Litem and mediator that I continuously use in my everyday life as a judge. To have an even keeled demeanor, a calm temperament and an empathetic ear for the litigants that appear before me is key to a successful courtroom experience. I bring these qualities to the bench every day and I will continue to do so throughout my judicial career.

I am an advocate for civility, professionalism, diversity and inclusion. My commitment is evident in the roles I have held as Chair (2013) and Vice-Chair (2012) for Chicago Bar Association’s Adoption Law Committee where I helped highlight to the Adoption bar a diverse group of topics during my tenure that included the intersection of Immigration Law and Adoption Law. In both 2019 and 2020 I was humbled when my fellow Family Law and Adoption Law colleagues selected me as an “Illinois Super Lawyer”. As a Judge, I remain committed to being an active and contributing member of all bar associations to maintain connection to the legal community and help mentor young lawyers who aspire to ascend to the bench.

Throughout my career I volunteered time to pro bono work in many local organizations including the National Immigrant Justice Center, the Chicago Bar Association, and Greenlight Family Services helping families navigate Adoption and Probate matters in court. I am a strong advocate for education and mentoring which led me to accept an adjunct professor position at DePaul University School of Law in 2019 and 2021. I also have had the opportunity to author various publications on continuing legal education in adoption law for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

I have been found qualified and recommended by all thirteen (13) bar associations and I am the highest rated candidate in my judicial race.

The last fifteen months of my campaign have been a meaningful journey as I traversed the county with my family in tow to meet voters and take my message of adding qualified diversity to the bench across Cook County.

Thank you for this opportunity to get to know me and about my candidacy. I hope that once you review my credentials and ratings, I earn your vote on or before June 28th, 2022.

Punch #167 for López.

To read more about me, please visit: dianalopezforjudge.com.

Another batch of Alliance grids -- there are still some blanks

This batch came out last evening.

I'll be updating the individual Organizing the Data posts with this new information. But there are still blanks to be filled in.

As always, click on any image to enlarge or clarify.
For any newcomers who may need it, here is the Alliance ratings key:
And, if for those confused by all the abbreviations of group names, this may help: The Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening is comprised of the Arab American Bar Association (AABAR), the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago (AABA), the Black Women Lawyers' Association of Greater Chicago (BWLA), the Chicago Council of Lawyers (CCL), the Cook County Bar Association (CCBA), the Decalogue Society of Lawyers (DSL), the Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois (HBA), the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois (HLAI), the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago (LAGBAC), the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois (PRBA), and the Women's Bar Association of Illinois (WBAI), working collaboratively to improve the process of screening judicial candidates in Cook County, Illinois.

Time to start looking for palm cards. I'll start.

The last weekend of early voting is almost here and "In-Person Voting Day" (as I've seen it called elsewhere on the Intertubes) is Tuesday, June 28, on Mel Brooks' 96th birthday.

So it's time to find out who's on the all-important palm cards.

People are sending stuff to me -- you can, too, at jackleyhane@yahoo.com -- so I'll start with these two that I've received in the last couple of days.

These really aren't palm cards. They're too big. This one, from the Democratic Party of Evanston, is on the group's website (and, yes, the red "ink" circles are on the original):
No real news value readily apparent here -- the entire Cook County Democratic Party judicial slate is endorsed on this card -- as one would expect, right? -- but check out the fine print: "Recommendations are from Evanston Democratic Committeeman Eamon Kelly, DPOE did not endorse in most county and judicial races." FWIW has confirmed with Kelly that all of the judicial candidates are his recommendations. Kelly also confirmed that the 9th Subcircuit committeemen never made endorsements in the two subcircuit races.

But, formal endorsements or not, Barry Goldberg and Sanjay Tailor are on the DPOE card. With a red ink circle, no less.

Goldberg and Tailor fared well in New Trier Township as well. That's about the only news value I can glean from the New Trier endorsement sheet -- but here it is, complete with a QR code, no less, for soliciting donations:
If you've recieved some potentially newsworthy mailers or palm cards when you've gone for early voting, please send them to me. However, don't try and leave anonymous comments about who got left off of whose card. It's not that I don't believe you, Person-Who-Won't-Even-Disclose-Your-Own-Name; naturally, if you're an FWIW reader, I am fully prepared to accept that you are a person of sterling character. But I don't want to report what I can't source. Thanks.

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

AMVOTE PAC offers endorsements in 2022 Cook County judicial races

The American Middle East Voters Alliance Political Action Committee (AMVOTE PAC) has issued endorsements in several Cook County judicial races.

As is often the case with groups announcing primary endorsements in our little corner of the world, AMVOTE PAC's endorsement list tends to echo the overall Democratic Party's slate. In countywide judicial races, for example, AMVOTE PAC lines up exactly with the announced Party Circuit Court slate -- but the group endorsed former Judge Russell Hartigan for the Hall vacancy on the Appellate Court. And, of course, this year, with definite information about formal subcircuit slating being so hard to come by, every announcement of subcircuit endorsements has some news value.

The group's complete list of endorsements can be found here. In Cook County judicial races, AMVOTE PAC makes the following recommendations:

Appellate Court
  • Russell "Russ" Hartigan (Hall vacancy)
Circuit Court (Countywide)
  • Howard B. Brookins, Jr. (Brennan vacancy)
  • Tracie Porter (Callahan, Jr. vacancy)
  • Diana López (Gordon Cannon vacancy)
  • Thomas E. Nowinski (Hyman vacancy)
  • Yolanda Harris Sayre (Ingram vacancy)
  • Rena Marie Van Time (Leeming vacancy)
  • Michael Weaver (Lynch vacancy)
  • Ruth Isabel Gudino (McGury vacancy)
  • Araceli Reyes De La Cruz (O'Brien vacancy)
  • Thomas More Donnelly (Sullivan vacancy)
Subcircuit Vacancies
  • John W. Wilson (1st Subcircuit, Johnson vacancy)

  • Nick Kantas (4th Subcircuit, Gavin vacancy)
  • Shawnte Raines-Welch (4th Subcircuit, Rogers vacancy)

  • David L. Kelly (5th Subcircuit, Portman-Brown vacancy)

  • Kerrie Maloney Laytin (6th Subcircuit, Vega vacancy)

  • Marcia O'Brien Conway (7th Subcircuit, Martin vacancy)

  • John Fritchey (8th Subcircuit, Gordon vacancy)
  • Stephen Swedlow (8th Subcircuit, Lipscomb vacancy)

  • Sanjay Tailor (9th Subcircuit, Cleveland vacancy)
  • Barry Goldberg (9th Subcircuit, Jacobius vacancy)

  • Chris Taliaferro (11th Subcircuit, McGuire vacancy)

  • James "Jack" Costello (13th Subcircuit, Groebner vacancy)

  • Viviana Martinez (14th Subcircuit, Jagielski vacancy)

  • Bernadette Barrett (15th Subcircuit, Lawler vacancy)

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Cook County judicial endorsements from Scott Waguespack

Thirty-second Ward Ald. and Committeeperson Scott Waguespack has released an email detailing his endorsements (including his endorsements in Cook County judicial races) for next Tuesday's Mel Brooks Birthday Primary.

Only he doesn't call it that, of course. Still, I'm hoping it will catch on somewhere.

There is ordinarily limited news value in these sorts of releases: After all, the 50 ward and 30 township committeepersons supposedly agreed on a countywide slate last December. It should be expected, then, that any committeeperson would support the entire ticket.

Any news value would be in deviations therefrom.

So the news in this is that Mr. Waugespack actually strays twice from the party line, supporting Debra B. Walker for the Hall vacancy on the Appellate Court over the Democratic Party's slated candidate, Dominique C. Ross, and Elizabeth "Beth" Ryan over the Party's candidate, Yolanda Harris Sayre, in the race for the countywide Ingram vacancy on the Circuit Court.

In recent election cycles we've known much more about subcircuit slating than we do this year. Thus, the revelation of any committeeperson's choices in subcircuit races has more news value this year than it might have had in years past.

For 2022, in the 8th Subcircuit, Waguespack has endorsed Bradley R. Trowbridge for the Gordon vacancy and Stephen Swedlow for the Lipscomb vacancy. In the one contested 6th Subcircuit race, for the Vega vacancy, Waugespack has announced support for Kerrie Maloney Laytin.

Araceli De La Cruz: In her own words

Araceli De La Cruz is a candidate for the countywide O'Brien vacancy. Her punch number is 182.
Hello readers, thank you for your engagement and interest in my candidacy.

After a unanimous recommendation by the judicial screening committee of Justice Mary Jane Theis, I was appointed as a Circuit Court Judge by the Illinois Supreme Court and sworn in on January 6, 2022. I am currently assigned to the Traffic Division, presiding over minor and misdemeanor traffic offenses. Six months into this service, the novelty has not worn off nor do I anticipate that it ever will. It is truly an honor to serve in this capacity and that is why I am running in the June 28th primary to continue this service with an enduring level of diligence, dedication, and enthusiasm for many years to come.

I am the appointed candidate in the O’Brien vacancy, my ballot number is 182 and I am the only candidate in my race to have been found Qualified, Recommended or Highly Recommended by all of the bar associations. I have campaigned throughout Cook County for many months to not only share my candidacy, but more importantly to engage with voters across all communities and learn from them how they view our justice system and what they expect from those who administer justice. I keep their stories, perspectives, and expectations in mind as I cultivate my judicial philosophy which is rooted in listening intently, being fair and always maintaining integrity.

For over twenty years, I worked in a variety of public sectors and take great pride in having served crime victims, public transit riders, public consumers, and public-school children throughout my career. I bring my depth and breadth of diverse legal experiences as a trusted and ethical public servant with me onto the bench.

I am a lifelong Albany Park resident in Chicago where I reside to this day with my husband and our two teenagers, my parents are still in my childhood home across the street. Academic scholarships enabled me to attend the University of Illinois at Chicago where I studied English Literature and Political Science. While attending The John Marshall Law School, I competed in Mock Trial, was on the Dean’s List, and earned the Elmer Kissane award for my commitment to public service. I am an active member of various bar associations, including the Chicago Bar Association, the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, the Hispanic Lawyer’s Association of Illinois, and the Puerto Rican Bar Association. I am also a member of the Illinois Judges Association, the Illinois Judges Foundation and the Illinois Latino Judges Association.

During law school, I worked full time as a Victim-Witness Specialist with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, helping victims and witnesses navigate the criminal justice system. Today as a judge, I continue to ensure that all who come before me are heard and have access to fair and ethical judicial practices.

Prior to my appointment to the bench, I volunteered for over ten years as an executive board member for Casa Central, a large non-profit social service agency in Humboldt Park. I served on various board committees including the Executive, Leadership and Governance, and Head Start committees. I was also active in my home community, serving as the Board Secretary for the 39th Ward Democratic Organization.

I began my legal career as an Assistant State’s Attorney, where I honed my litigation skills for over eight years. I tried misdemeanor and felony jury trials, over one hundred bench trials, and hundreds of evidentiary hearings. I handled matters in the Traffic Division, Child Protection Unit, Narcotics, Felony Review, Felony Preliminary Hearings, and the Special Grand Jury where I indicted homicide and sexual assault cases. While in the Special Prosecution section of the Narcotics Unit, I managed vertical prosecution of narcotics cases. I also specialized in child victim sexual assault cases.

During my time as the Chief Safety and Security Officer at the Chicago Transit Authority, I ensured regulatory compliance with state and federal safety and security standards. As the Chief of General Prosecutions at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations, I managed prosecuting attorneys and ensured the protection of consumers while holding service providers accountable to the state’s professional rules and regulations. In this capacity I also gained experience in working with pro se respondents.

In my last role, I served as the General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer for Acero Schools. I safeguarded the educational and privacy interests of over 6,900 public school children, ensured compliance with the collective bargaining agreement between Acero’s schools and over 500 members of the Chicago Teacher’s Union, managed a legal team and directed outside counsel on any litigation matters.

My extensive and diverse legal background is serving me well on the bench and distinguishes me as a candidate. I am an experienced litigator with proven leadership and legal management skills.

In further demonstration of my dedicated countywide campaigning, I am proud to have numerous endorsements from across a broad spectrum of political, community and labor organizations. These endorsements include the Cook County Democratic Party, the Chicago Federation of Labor, nine individual unions, PersonalPAC and various community organizations. The full list of endorsements can be found at www.judgedelacruz.com.

Again, I thank you for your interest and hope to earn your vote now during early voting or on June 28th.

Timothy W. Wright, III: In his own words

Timothy W. Wright, III is a candidate for the Shelley vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit. His punch number is 193.
I am Timothy W. Wright III, and I am running for judge of the 5th judicial subcircuit because I can help restore and build confidence in our justice system. I lived my adult life in the 5th Judicial subcircuit of Chicago where I have raised my kids. I graduated from Claremont Mc Kenna College and UCLA School of Law, where I served as Chief Justice of the UCLA Moot Court Honors Program and delivered the graduation address.

I met Congressman Harold Washington my second year of law school. While listening to Washington’s vision of fairness and justice, I soon relocated to Chicago and clerked with the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois and would soon join Mayor Washington in the capacities of Acting Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Special Counsel to the Mayor and the first African American Commissioner of Economic Development in the City of Chicago.

I am licensed to practice law in Illinois and California and am also admitted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. I was one of the international lawyers who went to South Africa to negotiate for the release of Nelson Mandela and was the lead attorney for Sen. Roland Burris when he was seated in the Senate.

I have been found qualified or recommended by all bar associations who interviewed, and I am the only candidate in my race for the Honorable Diane Shelley vacancy found qualified by the Illinois State Bar Association. My mentors like Harold Washington and Justice Pincham taught me the importance of fairness, integrity, and equal justice. They stand as models for the Justice and Integrity that I thrive to aspire to in service to the courts and the community.

I stand for Justice with Integrity, and I see Justice as a verb that requires action. It requires action in the courtroom in listening and discerning truth based on an understanding of the community in which the court sits. It requires action in championing the engagement of the community in the justice system, and a recognition of the justice system as the most important branch of government impacting upon the lives of people in Illinois and Cook County. This is the work I have attempted to do in all of the capacities I have served, I stand ready to serve the 5th judicial sub circuit and all of Cook County to deliver Justice with Integrity.

I have been endorsed by the people of the Chicago Federation of Labor, the IVI-IPO, Democracy for America, Personal Pac, Chicago Firefighter Union, District Council NO. 14, and endorsed or supported by many others including:
  • Congressman Bobby Rush,
  • Cook County Commissioner and 11th Ward Committeeperson John Daley,
  • Congressman Jesus Garcia,
  • 16th Ward Alderwoman and Committeeperson Stephanie Coleman,
  • Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky,
  • Cook County Board President and Chairperson of the Cook County Democratic Party Toni Preckwinkle,
  • 3rd Ward Alderman and Committeeperson Pat Dowell,
  • 17th Ward Alderman and Committeeperson David Moore,
  • Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter,
  • 6th Ward Alderman and Committeeperson Roderick Sawyer, and
  • 8th Ward Alderwoman and Committeeperson Michelle Harris
Bishop Larry D. Trotter of Chicago’s Sweet Holy Spirit Church adds, “These endorsements further validate Attorney Wright as a man of integrity, compassion, and love for the people of the 5th Sub-Circuit. His global experiences in helping hurting people are just what our judiciary system has lacked. We are all excited about his campaign and the future of the 5th Sub-Circuit.”

Organizing the Data: 9th Subcircuit - Jacobius vacancy

Updated June 23, 2022
Candidates are listed in the order that they appear on the ballot in the Democratic primary; no Republican filed for this vacancy. This post may be updated before the primary as new information becomes available.

Basileios "Bill" John Foutris - #193


No Campaign Website known

Bar Association Evaluation Narratives

The Chicago Bar Association says:
Basileiois “Bill” Foutris is “Qualified” for the office of Circuit Court Judge. Mr. Foutris was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 2000 and is currently in private practice concentrating in plaintiff’s civil rights and police misconduct litigation. Mr. Foutris has extensive trial experience and has personally tried many high-profile cases in the Federal and State Courts. While Mr. Foutris is well regarded for his knowledge of the law and legal experience, there is a need to work on his temperament.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers says:
Basileios “Bill” John Foutris was admitted to practice in 2000. His practice has been devoted to representing victims of police misconduct. As a civil rights lawyer, he has been involved in litigating wrongful death, police shootings, police brutality, illegal searches, false arrest, coerced confessions, malicious prosecution and other police misconduct. He has substantial litigation experience in both state and federal courts. He us praised for his knowledge of the law. The Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.
The Illinois State Bar Association says:
Basileios “Bill” Foutris has been licensed since 2000. Since 2005 he has been a sole practitioner with Foutris Law Office, Ltd. where he represents plaintiffs in civil rights and police misconduct civil litigation matters. Prior to opening his own firm, he was an associate and a contract attorney with two other civil litigation firms. He is a member of several bar associations and does pro bono work through his practice.

He has substantial civil jury and bench trial experience in both state and federal courts and has handled some high-profile cases as well as some appeals. Most attorneys generally reported that he a formidable opponent respected for his knowledge. A few attorneys interviewed felt that at time he took advantage of less-experienced colleagues in resolving disputed and was not always easy to work with; some attributed any such issues to his passion for his clients.

The Committee finds Basileios Foutris qualified for election to the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Other Bar Association Evaluations

Arab American Bar Association: Recommended

Asian American Bar Association: Recommended

Black Women Lawyers' Association: Recommended

Cook County Bar Association: Recommended

Decalogue Society of Lawyers: Recommended

Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois: Not evaluated through no fault of the candidate

Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago: Recommended

Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Women's Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

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Torrick Alan Ward - #194

Campaign Website

Candidate Statement

Bar Association Evaluation Narratives

The Chicago Bar Association says:
Torrick Alan Ward is “Qualified” for the office of Circuit Court Judge. Mr. Ward was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 1998. He has significant litigation experience in several substantive legal areas. He presently oversees labor matters for Cook County. He is well regarded for his legal knowledge, work ethic, temperament, and integrity.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers says:
Torrick Alan Ward was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1998. Mr. Ward began his career at the Chicago Department of Law as an assistant corporation counsel. In 2004 he was promoted to senior counsel where he supervised attorneys, handled employment discrimination suits and helped develop city policies. In 2008, he became the deputy director of the Chicago office of Compliance. In 2012 he began a solo practice.

Mr. Ward is praised for his legal ability and temperament. He has had substantial litigation experience during the course of his career, and is reported to have good temperament – civil and professional. The Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.
The Illinois State Bar Association says:
Torrick Ward was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1998. In 2015 he left his private practice to become Senior Labor Counsel for the Cook County Labor Relations office; in 2019 he became Deputy Director, his current position. Prior to opening his practice in 2010 where he focused on labor and employment law, he had been Deputy Director of the Office of Compliance for the City of Chicago, and an assistant corporation counsel. He has spoken on labor law issues and taught at DePaul and had been active with the Rogers Park Business Alliance.

He has civil jury and bench trial experience in both state and federal courts. Attorneys consider him to be well-experienced, civil, professional, with excellent integrity and legal knowledge.

The Committee finds Torrick Ward qualified for election to the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Other Bar Association Evaluations

Arab American Bar Association: Not evaluated through no fault of the candidate

Asian American Bar Association: Qualified

Black Women Lawyers' Association: Recommended

Cook County Bar Association: Recommended

Decalogue Society of Lawyers: Recommended

Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois: Qualified

Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago: Highly Recommended

Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Women's Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Endorsement
"Girl, I Guess" Voter's Guide
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Barry Goldberg - #195


Campaign Website

Bar Association Evaluation Narratives

The Chicago Bar Association says:
Barry Goldberg is “Qualified” to serve as a Circuit Court Judge. Mr. Goldberg was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 1999. Mr. Goldberg is a knowledgeable and experienced Assistant Attorney General, where he has been recognized for his work and given substantial responsibilities. He is well regarded for his integrity, work ethic, and temperament.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers says:
Barry Goldberg was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1999. He is a member of several bar associations including the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, where he served as President (2009-2010). He has spent his career at the Charitable Trust Bureau of the Illinois Office of the Attorney General, where he has served as Bureau Chief (2019-present), Deputy Bureau Chief (2018-2019), Assistant Bureau Chief (2006-2017), and Assistant Attorney General (1999-2006).

Barry Goldberg is considered to have very good legal ability and is exceptionally knowledgeable involving charitable trusts. He is praised for his temperament. He has handled enforcement actions and conducted a multistate litigation action in a fraud action in federal court. While he has little trial experience, he has substantial experience in litigation matters. The Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.
The Illinois State Bar Association says:
Barry Goldberg was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1999. He has spent his career as an assistant attorney general, where is currently is the Bureau Chief of the Charitable Trust Bureau. He is a member of several bar associations and a past president of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers. In addition, he has lectured at law schools and written on legal topics and is active in community organizations.

He does not report jury or bench trial experience, but does have substantial quasi-trial civil experience, including administrative and evidentiary hearings. Attorneys reported that his legal knowledge was superior in the art of charitable trust issues and fraud. He is considered to have high integrity with a good temperament.

The Committee finds Barry Goldberg qualified for election to the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Other Bar Association Evaluations

Arab American Bar Association: Recommended

Asian American Bar Association: Recommended

Black Women Lawyers' Association: Recommended

Cook County Bar Association: Recommended

Decalogue Society of Lawyers: Highly Recommended

Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois: Recommended

Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago: Recommended

Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Women's Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Endorsements
Chicago Federation of Labor
IVI-IPO
AMVOTE PAC
Personal PAC
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Don R. Sampen - #196



Campaign Website

Bar Association Evaluation Narratives

The Chicago Bar Association says:
Don R. Sampen is “Qualified” to serve as a Circuit Court Judge. Mr. Sampen was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 1975. He has been a partner at Jenner & Block and Meckler, Bulger & Tilson. He also was a Division and Bureau Chief at the Attorney General’s office. Currently, he is a partner at Clausen Miller P.C., where he mostly handles appeals of commercial litigation. Mr. Sampen is hard-working, extremely knowledgeable of the law, and has an exceptional temperament. His broad range of experience and the high regard for him in the legal community make him qualified to be a Circuit Court Judge.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers says:
Don R. Sampen was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1975. Since 2008, he has been a partner at Clausen Miller P.C., where he focuses on appellate litigation. He has also been a partner at Meckler, Bulger & Tilson, where he focused on insurance-related commercial litigation (2003-2008); chief of the Public Interest Division and chief of the Special Litigation Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office (1995-2003); a partner at Martin, Craig, Chester & Sonnenschein (1988-1995); a partner and associate at Jenner & Block (1976-1988); and a law clerk to Judge Phil Tone of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1975-1976). He serves as pro bono counsel for the Abolition Institute, an organization that fights modern day slavery.

Mr. Sampen is considered to have excellent legal ability. He is a widely respected appellate attorney who is also praised for his trial litigation experience in complex matters. He is reported to have a professional demeanor and is considered to a solid practitioner who knows the court system from a variety of points of view. The Council finds him Well Qualified for the Circuit Court.
The Illinois State Bar Association says:
Don R. Sampen has been licensed since 1975. He is currently a partner at ClausenMiller where he focuses on appellate litigation. He also spent several years as an assistant attorney general, where he was the Chief of Public Interest and Special Litigation and was a partner at two other law firms before that. He has taught at both Loyola and Northwestern, spoken at seminars, and handled pro bono matters. He is active with several bar associations, having chaired a section council with the Illinois State Bar Association, served as a committee chair with the Chicago Bar Association, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Appellate Lawyers Association. He has teaching and writing experience. He has been a members of the Lincolnwood Plan Commission and the Evanston Zoning Board of Appeals.

He has civil jury and bench trial experience, and handled eighty appellate cases, in addition to being an arbitrator. Attorneys give him high marks for his legal knowledge and ability, high character, and kind demeanor.

The Committee finds Don R. Sampen qualified for election to the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Other Bar Association Evaluations

Arab American Bar Association: Not evaluated through no fault of the candidate

Asian American Bar Association: Qualified

Black Women Lawyers' Association: Recommended

Cook County Bar Association: Recommended

Decalogue Society of Lawyers: Recommended

Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois: Qualified

Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago: Highly Recommended

Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Women's Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Endorsement
Personal PAC
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Organizing the Data: 13th Subcircuit - Groebner vacancy - Democratic candidates

Updated June 23, 2022
This is the only judicial vacancy in Cook County in which both Republican and Democratic candidates filed. In this post, we'll look at the Democratic candidates in the order that they appear on the ballot; we look at the Republican candidates in this separate post. This post may be updated before the primary as new information becomes available.

James "Jack" Costello - #191


Campaign Website

Bar Association Evaluation Narratives

The Chicago Bar Association says:
James “Jack” Costello is “Qualified” to serve as a Circuit Court Judge. Mr. Costello was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 2007 and has been an Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney since that time. Mr. Costello has significant trial experience and is well-regarded for his diligence, legal ability and experience, and excellent demeanor.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers says:
James Costello was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 2007. He has spent his career as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney Office, where since 2019 he has served in the Special Prosecutions Bureau, Public Corruption and Financial Crimes Unit (he is currently First Chair). He has also served in the Felony Trial Division (2016-2019), the Felony Review and Preliminary Hearings Unit (2013-2016), the Misdemeanors/Traffic/Preliminary Hearings Units at the Markham courthouse (2009-2013), and Criminal Appeals in the Daley Center (2007-2009).

Mr. Costello is considered to have good legal ability and is especially praised for his temperament. He is reported to be knowledgeable and fair with lawyers and litigants. The Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.
The Illinois State Bar Association says:
James Costello has been licensed since 2007. He is a career prosecutor currently assigned to the Public Corruption/Financial Crimes Unity; before his assignment there in 2019, he worked in the Felony Trial Division, Misdemeanors/Traffic, and Appeals. He has been a speaker and guest lecturer at both law schools and high schools, and coached mock trial teams. He is a Board Member of the Arlington Heights Historical Society.

He has substantial jury and bench trial experience in criminal matters, including in complex cases. Attorneys praised his legal skills and ability, and analytical skills. He is reported to be of high integrity, even-keeled and fair.

The Committee finds James Costello qualified for election to the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Other Bar Association Evaluations

Arab American Bar Association: Recommended

Asian American Bar Association: Recommended

Black Women Lawyers' Association: Recommended

Cook County Bar Association: Recommended

Decalogue Society of Lawyers: Recommended

Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois: Not evaluated through no fault of the candidate

Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago: Recommended

Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Women's Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Endorsements
Chicago Federation of Labor
Indo-American Democratic Organization
AMVOTE PAC
Personal PAC
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Joe Gump - #192



Campaign Website

Bar Association Evaluation Narratives

The Chicago Bar Association says:
Joe Gump is “Qualified” for the office of Circuit Court Judge. Mr. Gump was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 1987 and for the past 29 years has served as an Assistant Cook County Public Defender. Mr. Gump is currently a felony assistant, assigned to the Third Municipal District. Mr. Gump is well regarded for his knowledge of the law, legal ability and fine temperament.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers says:
Joseph Michael Gump was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1987. He has spent his legal career at the Office of the Cook County Public Defender, where he was a Felony Trial Assistant.

Joseph Michael Gump is considered to have good legal ability and is praised for being a zealous advocate. He has substantial litigation experience in complex matters, and is praised for his knowledge of the law as well as for his research skills. He is praise[d] for his judicial temperament. The Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.

Other Bar Association Evaluations

Arab American Bar Association: Recommended

Asian American Bar Association: Qualified

Black Women Lawyers' Association: Recommended

Cook County Bar Association: Recommended

Decalogue Society of Lawyers: Recommended

Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois: Qualified

Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago: Recommended

Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Women's Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Endorsements
IVI-IPO
"Girl, I Guess" Voter's Guide
Personal PAC
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