The mid-term election on Tuesday November 6 will provide a glimpse of what politics will look like going forward. Clearly, we are a nation divided. While the focus will be on key races around the country, the dynamics of the judicial retention race in Cook County Illinois will bear monitoring. The Cook County Democratic Party led by Toni Preckwinkle has targeted one judge. The accusations stem from a decades old case this judge prosecuted that was investigated by a now discredited police detective. Without question, this detective was corrupt and his work led to wrongful convictions. Prior to selecting this judge, Preckwinkle and the local democratic party had determined that they would pick one judge to campaign against. Originally, they selected a judge who was awaiting sentencing for a federal conviction for acts unrelated to her judicial service. Once she withdrew from the retention ballot, the focus changed to the current judge. Interestingly, the accusations against him are contained in a civil lawsuit seeking millions of dollars to compensate the exonerated person for the years served in prison for the wrongful conviction. The plaintiff’s lawyers have been leading the attack on this judge/defendant. While that case winds its way through the courts, this collection of lawyers and politicians have pronounced sentence on the judge. No due process or evidence has been presented. The allegations seem to be enough. If they succeed, does this mean that the judiciary will lose its independence and have to answer to the Cook County Democratic Party? Judicial accountability is essential, but this isn’t the way achieve it.
Vita in Lega