Chicago Media Bullies Illinois Supreme Court - Ignore the Law Give Us Rahm!

Hey Kids! Calling all the Soul Patched, and Knit-hat deep thinkers! Eric Zorn says, Let Rahm run and then change the Law! Sounds fair . . .fairly stupid. Like a little kid saying 'don't punish me for burning down the garage, sell the car.' Adorable. Get this,

I'm not a lawyer, but my answer would be a definite "yes." Democracy can be messy, sure. But it's weakened and insulted by any restriction that says voters, collectively, aren't wise enough to decide on Election Day who is and who isn't qualified for office.

Let Rahm run. Then repeal Arnold's Law.

I'm no iconic columnist, but my answer would never be a definite anything. That is why I am not an iconic columnist and tend to have the general good opinion of my neighbors. Like most of us we work very hard at doing our jobs and not being a horrifically festering pain-in-the ass.

With the exception of John Kass, Chicago Ink Icons are railing against the possible exit of Rahm Emanuel from the February ballot ( Rahm stays on the ballot for Monday's early voting).

The Tribune wants Rahm on.

Burt Odelson argued solidly and the Appellate Court ruled 2-1 against Rahm and the Tribune, ABC 7 & etc. started kicking dirt on the two judges.

Now, the bully ragging Media is on the seven Illinois Supreme Court Justices. I know one - Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride - and no amount of nonsense will sway his rock-solid integrity. The guy is the template for Justice. As to the others, let's see.*

Having just tossed the front-runner off the ballot in the biggest city election in decades, they then refused to certify the case as worthy of expedited Supreme Court review. Fortunately, the high court recognized the emergency. The appeal is now fast-tracked.

This decision will have ramifications far beyond Emanuel. It will be a precedent-setting ruling about ballot access for candidates who follow the rules. Will the Supreme Court thread a needle to keep a candidate off the ballot and please his political opponents? Or will it give Chicago voters their choice of qualified candidates?

The justices must be guided by the law, by the record and by their obligation to preserve the integrity of the electoral system — not for Emanuel but for every candidate, every voter and every election.

The Tribune has been cork-screwing into the loam under an editorial leadership that makes Perez Hilton seem like Clayton Kirkpatrick.

Let's remember this is a Democratic Republic and not a Mediarchy - Rule by the Ink Slinger. Laws and really Stupid Laws get enacted because of the Press - the nanny-state was spawned by the press. PR and the Media gave us Roe v. Wade and 500 million children born ( Kermit Gosnell in Philly) and unborn were slaughtered in the Cosmetic Holocaust. Arnold's Law in Illinois, to quote from Eric Zorn, came about when public fever was sparked in the press and politicians got calls.

Back off, icons and ink-slingers. Rahm stays on the ballot, or regroups for his next venture based on our Justices and their reading of the LAW.

*

Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, D-Rock Island, 57, elected 2000. He spent 20 years in private practice in the Quad Cities handling environmental, labor and employment law before ascending to the state’s high court. He narrowly survived an effort by business groups and Republicans to knock him off the court in last year’s retention election.


Justice Charles Freeman, D-Chicago, 76, elected 1990. Freeman is the court’s first African-American justice. He worked as a prosecutor and an assistant attorney general before becoming a judge 34 years ago. He administered the oath of office to Mayor Harold Washington. Last month, on Freeman’s recommendation, the Supreme Court appointed the wife of Emanuel’s main attorney, Mike Kasper, to a vacancy on the Cook County Circuit Court. Freeman is a native of Richmond, Va.


Justice Bob Thomas, R-Wheaton, 58, elected 2000. Thomas was a kicker for the Chicago Bears. Mike Ditka and other Bears backed him when he ran for his seat on the high court. He earlier served as an appellate judge in DuPage County. Thomas is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a native of Rochester, N.Y.


Justice Rita Garman, R-Danville, 57, was a downstate prosecutor, legal aid lawyer and an attorney in private practice before becoming a judge 34 years ago. An Aurora native, she got her law degree from the University of Iowa.


Justice Lloyd Karmeier, R-Nashville, Ill., 71, elected 2004. Karmeier served as state’s attorney of downstate Washington County and also spent years in private practice before being elected a judge in 1986. His 2004 Supreme Court victory over Gordon Maag broke all records for campaign spending: business groups supported Karmeier, while trial lawyers lined up behind Maag. Karmeier got his law degree from the University of Illinois.


Justice Anne Burke, D-Chicago, 66, elected 2008. Burke, wife of Ald. Edward Burke (14th), who supports Emanuel rival Gery Chico, served on the Illinois Court of Claims and was appointed special counsel to the governor on child welfare services before being elected to the appellate court. She is a graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law. Before going into law, Burke helped found the Special Olympics. She also served as acting chair of a national lay commission set up by the Catholic church to investigate allegations of priest misconduct.


Mary Jane Theis, D-Chicago, 60, appointed last year. Theis is a former assistant public defender elected to the bench in 1988 and elevated to the appellate court in 1994. When Judge Thomas Fitzgerald announced his retirement last year, he suggested to his fellow justices they appoint Theis to replace him. Theis is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Law and the daughter of former Judge Kenneth Wendt.

Abdon M. Pallasch

My Old Roomie Tom Kilbride - Chief Justice of Illinois Supreme Court

As a baby teacher at Bishop McNamara High School ( 1975), I had the pleasure of Tom Kilbride's company for the summer months in my apartment on the Kankakee River - the old River's Edge Apartments - way over priced, but it had a pool and was walking distabce to Bishop McNamara.

Tom was working as a N/S community and labor organizer and going to Grad School at St. Mary's in Winona, MN - and in between gigs. Tom's younger brother Joe had just graduated from Mac and was on his way to St. Procopius ( Illinois Benedictine) in Lisle and Jim Frogge, Bishop Mac's brilliant Physics and Chemistry Teacher as well as Defensive Co-ordinator for the Fighting Irish asked me to help Tom out and let the man crash. He did.

Tom had been a pretty good athlete at Mac, not nearly as good as Joe and was an outstanding student. Tom is a great guy.

I hope that my night terrors and catatonic screaming did not overly disturb his slumbers. He will be a wide-awake replacement for the wonderful Leo Man Tom Fitzgerald as Chief Justice of Illinois Supreme Court.

Kilbride Tapped for Chief Justice
September 16, 2010


By Scott Reeder Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride has been selected by his colleagues to be chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Illinois Statehouse News has learned.

The order will come down today naming the 10-year veteran of the high court to be its leader for a three-year term beginning Oct. 26, a source familiar with the situation said late Wednesday.

But whether his time as chief justice will be for the full three years or just a few weeks will be determined by the voters Nov. 2.

Every 10 years, Illinois Supreme Court justices must stand for retention. At least 60 percent of voters must vote for retaining the judge in order for the person to remain in office.

Ordinarily these elections are uneventful affairs, but this year Kilbride is being targeted for removal from the court by groups unhappy with how the court has ruled.

That strategy is part of a growing national trend in which groups representing doctors, hospitals, manufacturers and other businesses that are often sued work to reshape the judiciary.

Ed Murnane, president of the Illinois Civil Justice League, said his group is targeting Kilbride because it is unhappy with a number of votes he cast concerning business. Much of the Civil Justice League’s funding comes from business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald announced Monday that he will be retiring from the Supreme Court Oct. 25 because he has Parkinson’s Disease. Chief justices are selected by their colleagues to serve three year terms and traditionally it is rotated between Cook County justices and those from other parts of the state.

Kilbride was expected to be next in line in the rotation.

“It was his turn,” Murnane said. “I think the timing of Justice Fitzgerald’s retirement is interesting. He is retiring a week before the election and this should give Kilbride a nice PR boost right before the election.”

But Mike Lawrence, past director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, said he doubts it will have much impact.

“I don’t think it will make much of a difference. Ultimately voters are going to make a decision based on Justice Kilbride’s qualifications and how well the judge has comported himself. Whether or not he is chief justice shouldn’t make a difference,” he said.