Justice in Just Six Minutes: Know Your Judges on Tuesday’s Primary
We know it’s tempting, but try not to skip through the judicial appointments at the bottom of your ballot on Tuesday, March 20th. From fraud to police abuse, judges have the power to make your world more just or more corrupt. And many judges will be effectively elected to the bench in the primary because they’ll go unchallenged in November. Many others will be reelected without any scrutiny; since 1990, no Cook County judge has ever lost a retention election. Read on for more.
What Do I Need to Know?
Voters choose which judges they’d like to represent their party in the general election — just like any other candidate on the primary ballot. Judges are either seeking reelection (called retention) or are running for a seat left vacant because of retirement, resignation, or death.
How Do I Pick?
Evaluating judicial candidates can be particularly intimidating, especially because voters often have little to no information about many of these candidates. To avoid potential future ethics issues, candidates generally maintain a degree of political impartiality and don’t express political opinions or promise certain types of outcomes.
Candidates must meet two basic requirements to get on the ballot: they must live in the county or subcircuit district in which they’re running, and they must be licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois. But just like for every other office on your primary ballot, judicial candidates boast varying levels of relevant experience.
That’s why it’s important to do some homework. Local professional organizations impartially evaluate judicial candidates based on their legal experience and their past conduct. The Illinois State Bar Association has compiled a valuable guide that covers judicial races across the state. Voters can also refer to the Illinois Civil Justice League’s district-specific report (find yours here). Cook County voters can also consult both the Chicago Bar Association’s guide and Injustice Watch’s comprehensive overview. The latter is well worth your time.
Some Call to Fix the System
Many legal advocates and politicians fear that some candidates gain an advantage because voters lack the resources or patience to sift through dozens of names on their ballot. Cook County Clerk and former Mayor of Chicago David Orr has called for completely overhauling judicial elections to help make them more fair and streamlined. Some legal activists have called for all judicial elections to be publicly funded in order to address the exorbitant costs of a single campaign. A 2000 report showed that winning judges spent an average of $30,000 on their campaigns. In Madison and Bond counties, judicial candidates routinely raise over $1m to win their bid for election or retention. Fundraising has become such an important facet in judicial races, that recently one judge inappropriately solicited donations in a Chicago city council meeting.
What’s an Appellate Court Judge?
Depending on the area, some voters may be choosing to elect or retain an appellate court judge. Illinois has 52 appellate court judges divided into five districts. Judges serve 10-year terms. Appellate court judges reexamine trial cases and determine whether or not the law was followed or interpreted correctly. They have the power to overrule decisions made by the lower courts.
What’re Circuit and Subcircuit Court Judges?
All voters will be choosing candidates to serve 6-year terms as countywide circuit court judges. Residents of Cook, Will, Lake, and some other larger counties will also vote for subcircuit judges. Circuit court and subcircuit judges function identically, hearing trial cases in their county’s judicial system. Their only difference is how they are elected. While, all county residents vote for the same circuit court candidates, voters will only vote for subcircuit court candidates specific to their area. Subcircuit court appointments were devised in 1992 to help make access to the bench more equitable for those in minority communities.
