Looking at the ISBA's narratives on Cook County judicial retention candidates

The Illinois State Bar Association has released narrative explanations for the 59 Cook County Circuit Court judges and the one First District Illinois Appellate Court justice seeking retention on the November ballot. All the narrative evaluations can be found via this page of the ISBA website. Click on the "read evaluation" button for any judge that interests you. Note that you will have to scroll down through all of the uncontested elections for new judges in order to get to the list of judges seeking retention.

In this post, FWIW takes a look at the two judges that the ISBA does not recommend for retention. Readers should keep in mind that all of the judges on the retention ballot not named here are recommended for retention by the ISBA.

With that preface, here are the two Cook County Circuit Court judges that the ISBA does not recommend for retention and the explanation provided by the ISBA for each judge:

Lorraine Mary Murphy - No

Judge Murphy was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2003. Prior to her election to a countywide vacancy in 2020, she was a career Assistant State’s Attorney assigned to the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in the Appeals Division and at the Sixth Municipal District (Markham). Since March of 2024, Judge Murphy has been assigned to a felony courtroom in the Second Municipal District (Skokie); she served as a floater in Skokie from October 2021 until her present assignment. Prior to that, she was briefly assigned to Room 1104 in the Daley Center and to Traffic Court.

Judge Murphy reports she has worked with the Outreach Community Center in Little Village. She has participated in their school and summer programs, including chaperoning field trips to various museums.

Reports indicate that Judge Murphy has a good knowledge of criminal law and procedures. However, concerns were expressed about her lack of impartiality in criminal cases in favor of the prosecution and what the Committee felt was careless preparation of her judicial evaluation questionnaire. ISBA does not recommend Judge Lorraine Mary Murphy be retained to the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Tiesha L. Smith - No

Judge Smith was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2007. She was elected in 2020 to a countywide vacancy in the circuit court. She served for a brief period in Traffic Court. From 2021 to 2024, Judge Smith was assigned to the Child Protection Division in Juvenile Court. In 2024, she was transferred to the Juvenile Justice Division. She worked in several areas of civil law: expungements, insurance defense, and mortgage counseling until becoming an Assistant Public Defender in 2010 where she practiced prior to her election.

Reports of screaming matches between the Judge and attorneys, and between the Judge and minor respondents cause concern about her temperament and effectiveness of her judicial performance. ISBA does not recommend Judge Tiesha L. Smith be retained to the Circuit Court of Cook County.