Decalogue Society releases list of Cook County judicial evaluations, discloses evaluation criteria

The Decalogue Society is one of the Alliance bar groups whose ratings are included in the "grids" we've been updating on FWIW as the Mel Brooks Birthday primary comes closer and closer.

But, in addition, the Decalogue Society has separately released its list of evaluations of candidates seeking vacancies in the forthcoming primary, along with an explanation of its evaluation criteria. That's a link to the complete explanation in the preceding sentence; the Decalogue's list follows in a moment.

But first, an excerpt from the Decalogue explanation (emphases in original):

The [Decalogue Judicial Evaluation Committee] strives to avoid consideration of politics, gender, gender identity, age, disability, ethnicity, race, religion, socio-economic status, or sexual orientation in its evaluations and ratings. All Alliance and DSL JEC proceedings are strictly confidential. We base our evaluations for both elective and appointive candidates on the following criteria:

• INTEGRITY: honest, forthright, impartial, ethical, independent;
• PROFESSIONALISM: bar or community activities, pro bono work;
• DILIGENCE & PUNCTUALITY: preparation, accuracy and completeness in the form and substance of statements, rulings, orders, opinions, and documents; timeliness in appearances, filings, orders, rulings, opinions, and follow-up;
• EXPERIENCE: date of admission (10 years at time of application), areas of practice, depth and breadth of practice, complexity of practice, litigation (jury, bench, administrative), quasi-judicial, appellate advocacy, teaching, authorships;
• KNOWLEDGE & ABILITY: knowledge and application of substantive, procedural, and evidentiary laws, knowledge and application of court rules and procedures, writing ability, legal analysis, CLE participation, ability to articulate clearly and concisely orally and in writing;
• TEMPERAMENT: civil (to court, counsel, litigants, support staff, and others), calm, patient, respectful, able to listen, open-minded, able to appreciate all sides of an issue, humble, service oriented;
• DIVERSITY AWARENESS: cognizant of and sensitive to issues of religion, religious observance, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, age and/or socioeconomic status; and
• HEALTH/AGE: capable of performing the duties of a judge.

Our ratings are defined as follows:

• NOT RECOMMENDED: fails to demonstrate competence in one or more criteria


• RECOMMENDED: demonstrates competence in all criteria


• HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: in addition to demonstrated competence in all criteria, with excellence in more than one criteria, the Highly Recommended candidate must: have at lease 15 years of relevant legal practice, AND demonstrate commitment to pro bono or community involvement, AND have significant recent complex adversarial litigation experience, AND be viewed as a resource and scholar by colleagues.

Herewith, then, the list of the Decalogue's evaluations:

Illinois Appellate Court – Vacancy of Hon. Shelvin Louise Marie Hall
 Debra B. Walker - RECOMMENDED
 Russell “Russ” Hartigan - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
 Dominique C. Ross - RECOMMENDED

Illinois Appellate Court – Vacancy of Hon. Sheldon A. Harris
 Raymond W. Mitchell - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
 Devlin Joseph Schoop - RECOMMENDED
 John H. Ehrlich - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. Margaret A. Brennan
 Ubi O. O’Neal - NOT RECOMMENDED
 Howard B. Brookins, Jr. - RECOMMENDED
 Lisa Michelle Taylor - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. John P. Callahan, Jr.
 Mary Bernadette McMahon - RECOMMENDED
 Suzanne Therese McEneely - RECOMMENDED
 Tracie Porter - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. Diane Gordon Cannon
 Monica G. Somerville - RECOMMENDED
 Mable Taylor - NOT RECOMMENDED
 Diana López - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. Michael B. Hyman
 Thomas E. Nowinski - RECOMMENDED
 Carmen Migdalia Quinones - NOT RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. Cheyrl Ingram
 Elizabeth “Beth” Ryan - RECOMMENDED
 Yolanda Harris Sayre - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. Pamela M. Leeming
 Wende Williams - NOT RECOMMENDED
 Rena Van Tine - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. Daniel Lynch
 Paul Joyce - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
 Deidre Baumann - RECOMMENDED
 Michael Weaver - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. Kathleen M. McGury
 Chelsey Renece Robinson - RECOMMENDED
 Ruth Isabel Gudino - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. Joan M. O’Brien
 Jacqueline Marie Griffin - NOT RECOMMENDED
 Araceli Reyes De La Cruz - RECOMMENDED
 Dan Balanoff - NOT RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – Countywide Vacancy of Hon. Sharon M. Sullivan
 Claudia Silva-Hernandez - NOT RECOMMENDED
 Thomas More Donnelly - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
 Meridth Vanae Hammer - NOT RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 1st Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Sharon O. Johnson
 John W. Wilson - RECOMMENDED
 Maria M. Barlow - NOT RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 4th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. James Gavin
 Amanda Moira Pillsbury - RECOMMENDED
 Nick Kantas - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 4th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Patrick T. Rogers
 Chloe Georgianna Pedersen - RECOMMENDED
 ShawnTe Raines-Welch - RECOMMENDED
 Jerry Barrido - RECOMMENDED
 Patrick Campanelli - NOT RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 5th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Jackie Portman-Brown
 David L. Kelly - RECOMMENDED
 Jenetia Marshall - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 5th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Diane Shelley
 Timothy W. Wright III - RECOMMENDED
 Judie Lyn Smith - RECOMMENDED
 Tiffany N. Brooks - NOT RECOMMENDED
 Jackie Marie Portman-Brown - NOT RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 6th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Mauricio Araujo
 Charles “Charlie” Beach - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 6th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Raul Vega
 David S. Rodriguez - RECOMMENDED
 Kerrie Maloney Laytin - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 7th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Patricia Martin
 Marcia O’Brien Conway - RECOMMENDED
 Owens “Joe” Shelby - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 8th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Robert E. Gordon
 Pat Casey - NOT RECOMMENDED
 Bradley R. Trowbridge - RECOMMENDE
 John Fritchey - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 8th Subcircuit Vacancy Hon. Thomas J. Lipscomb
 Stephen Swedlow - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
 Jennifer Bae - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 9th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Jeanne Cleveland Bernstein
 Sanjay Tailor - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
 Ann Buran-Vongher - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 9th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Moshe Jacobius
 Don R. Sampen - RECOMMENDED
 Torrick Alan Ward - RECOMMENDED
 Barry Goldberg - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
 Basileios “Bill” John Foutris - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 11th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Dennis M. McGuire
 Chris Taliaferro - NOT RECOMMENDED
 Aileen Bhandari - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 13th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Susanne M. Groebner
 Christine Svenson - RECOMMENDED
 Gary William Seyring - RECOMMENDED
 Dominic J. Buttitta, Jr. - RECOMMENDED
 James Costello - RECOMMENDED
 Joe Gump - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 14th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. James R. Brown
 Iris Y. Chavira - NOT RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 14th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Raymond L. Jagielski
 Viviana Martinez - NOT RECOMMENDED
 Steve Demitro - RECOMMENDED
 Jorge V. Cazares - RECOMMENDED

Circuit Court – 15th Subcircuit Vacancy of Hon. Christopher Lawler
 Bernadette Barrett - RECOMMENDED
 Jim Gleffe - NOT RECOMMENDED