Short list is now out: 14 finalists named for seven vacancies

The Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Charles S. Beach II and the court’s Nominating Committee today announced the names of 14 candidates who will appear on the ballot for election by circuit judges to fill seven associate judge vacancies.

“We are pleased to submit the names of these candidates for consideration to join the bench of the Circuit Court of Cook County,” Chief Judge Beach said, in a press release accompanying the release of the short list. “I am grateful for the hard work of the Nominating Committee in assembling this list of highly qualified candidates.”

The Court's press release stressed that it is currently operating with a shortage of judges, underscoring the importance of promptly filling these vacancies. To address that need, the Nominating Committee convened promptly after receiving bar association evaluations for applicants seeking to fill the seven pending associate judge vacancies.

The list includes a couple of sitting judges who did not fare well in the recent primary. Over the next several days, I'll prepare a couple of posts profiling the finalists, but, in the meantime, here is the list:

• Matthew J. Canna
• Juanishá N. Dotson
• Caroline K. Kwon
• Tene McCoy Cummings
• Daniel T. Madigan
• Alexander D. Marks
• Gregory T. Mitchell
• Mona Naser
• Ginger L. Odom
• Nickolas G. Pappas
• Julia B. Ramirez
• Anthony Ruffin
• Linda Sackey
• Smith Spencer

The 265 circuit judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County have the constitutional authority to fill associate judge vacancies using the procedures outlined in Illinois Supreme Court Rule 39. Under Rule 39, the Nominating Committee must select twice as many qualified candidates as there are vacancies to be filled. In this instance, 14 candidates were selected for seven vacancies.

The Chief Judge notifies the Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts of the candidates selected by the Committee and requests that the Director begin the balloting process.

Within 14 days after receiving that notification, the Director mails ballots listing all candidates to each circuit judge. Judges may vote for up to the number of vacancies and must return their ballots within 14 days.

The Director then counts the ballots, which are accompanied by a signed identification card, tabulates and certifies the results.

Bar evaluations for associate judge applicants were conducted by The Chicago Bar Association and the 13-member Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening, at the request of the Office of the Chief Judge.

The Alliance includes the Illinois State Bar Association and the following minority and specialty bar organizations: the Arab American Bar Association of Illinois, the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area, the Black Men Lawyers’ Association, the Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the Cook County Bar Association, the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, the Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois, the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association (LAGBAC), the Puerto Rican Bar Association, and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.

Each bar association independently evaluates and issues ratings for associate judge applicants. In the Court's press release today, Chief Judge Beach thanked The CBA and the Alliance for their work in evaluating the candidates.

During the coming weeks, candidates will present their credentials to circuit judges, including a short video, resumé, and one-page biography. Presiding Judges will also arrange video or in-person meetings to allow circuit judges to meet with each candidate.

This will be Chief Judge Beach's first class of associate judges. The Nominating Committee also has a number of new names. Serving on this Nominating Committee were:

• Honorable Charles S. Beach II
  Chief Judge


• Honorable Michael B. Barrett
  Deputy Chief Judge, Civil Operations


• Honorable Tommy Brewer
  Presiding Judge, Sixth Municipal District


• Honorable Neil H. Cohen
  Supervising Judge, Chancery Division


• Honorable Kent A. Delgado
  Deputy Presiding Judge, Probate Division


• Honorable Mary C. Marubio
  Deputy Chief Judge, First Appearance Court Operations;
  Presiding Judge, Second Municipal District


• Honorable Susana L. Ortiz
  Presiding Judge, Pretrial Division


• Honorable Erica L. Reddick
  Deputy Chief Judge, Criminal Operations;
  Presiding Judge, Criminal Division


• Honorable Athanasios S. Sianis
  Presiding Judge, First Municipal District


• Honorable Rena Marie Van Tine
  Appellate Court Justice


• Honorable Maureen Ward Kirby
  Presiding Judge, County Division

Aside to the Short List Finalists: If you send me your information (jackleyhane@yahoo.com), I will try and use as much of it as I can in the profile posts I mentioned above. Include a head shot, if you can, in .jpg or .png format, that I can crop to a square.