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The [Tuesday] Papers"A law clerk running for judge who was allowed to make rulings from the bench earlier this month has been fired, according to a statement from the Office of the Chief Judge of Cook County," the Sun-Times reports.
If only . . .
Goodnight, everybody! - Back to the Sun-Times: "Chief Judge Timothy Evans suspended Rhonda Crawford without pay Aug. 17, about a week after she was accused of making rulings in two cases from the bench in Markham. She was then fired Aug. 26, according to Tuesday's statement." Well at least now she has a record to run on. * "Cook County Judge Valarie E. Turner, who allegedly allowed Crawford - running for judge in the November election - to put on her robe and make the rulings, has since been reassigned to non-courtroom duties." The "E" stands for "Extrajudicial." * Wait, she still has a job? * "A spokesman for Evans said the Aug. 11 incident involved Crawford presiding in 'two minor traffic tickets - one for driving with no insurance and another for driving on the median' . . . both cases in which Crawford had ruled would be heard again by another judge." Maybe the defendants should be given the option to keep their rulings or roll the dice with a real judge. * According to the Tribune, "Documents show one case was continued, while the other was dismissed when the officer failed to appear in court." * "[T]he incident raised questions about the judgment of any lawyers who took part in the cases knowing that Crawford is not a judge, as well as the conduct of any clerks, courtroom deputies or other county employees who regularly work with Turner in her courtroom," the Tribune reported earlier this month. In other words, why didn't anyone in the courtroom that day speak up? Well, someone did . . . sort of. The Tribune reported a day after wondering: Mario Lozano knew something was not quite right. Several outlets have reported that Crawford was "shadowing" Turner that day as a sort of training for her new, upcoming job, so folks in the courtroom may have been confused. * Also: A clerk from the office of Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown was in the courtroom too. But a spokeswoman for Brown, Jalyne Strong-Shaw, would not say Thursday if the unidentified clerk reported the incident to a supervisor or if the office reported it to the chief judge. As near as I can tell, it took six days for the incident to become public - which doesn't tell us who knew what when. * From Mark Brown for the Sun-Times: "Turner, 59, is no novice. She was elected to the Cook County bench in 2002 and has twice won retention. Her current term expires in 2020. Meanwhile, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office has opened a criminal investigation into the matter. Hey, maybe Turner will be tried in Crawford's courtroom! That would be the most Chicago conclusion to this affair possible - well, short of a brown paper bag filled with cash exchanging hands somewhere. * Back to Brown: During the campaign, Crawford described herself as a staff attorney for the Cook County Circuit Court and assigned as a law clerk in the Markham courthouse. That makes Evans her boss. That's a bit of a glitch in the narrative; I figured she was a Burke and/or Madigan tool for sure. She must have some base of support; the Trib says she "handily" beat her two opponents in the March primary. More on that next . . . * The Tribune outlines the larger problem in an editorial: Crawford isn't just a wannabe judge, she's a gonnabe judge. Nice. She's unopposed in the 1st Judicial Subcircuit race on the Nov. 8 ballot. One-party rule isn't good for anyone - including the one party. But voters should have had reservations about Crawford before now. She got a unanimous "thumbs down" from a dozen local bar associations before the March primary. That's because she refused to participate in the rigorous evaluations conducted by the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the Chicago Bar Association and others. So Turner and Crawford both refused to appear before the bar groups. Voters, pay attention: This is not the way to fill a $188,000-a-year job. That's what Turner makes for presiding over a municipal courtroom. It's what Crawford, who currently earns less than $57,000 a year, will make once she's sworn in. There's got to be a better way. * The Sun-Times also weighed in with an editorial, offering a possible (short-term) solution: Turner showed such a blatant disrespect and disregard for the law by allowing a non-judge to act as a judge that it's hard to imagine how she could be allowed to return to the bench. Well, she certainly has an aptitude for it. If [Crawford] doesn't voluntarily drop out of the race, the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission could ask the Illinois Supreme Court for a rule to show cause why her law license should not be suspended until further order. Such an order would block her from serving as judge. The paper suggests then that the parties could select replacement candidates for a write-in campaign. Otherwise, we have the specter of someone fired as law clerk becoming a judge a few months later. Take this job and shove it, Evans, I'm gonna have my own law clerk! * One person oddly defends the pair, calling Turner "smart" and saying she has "served honorably." The incident should not be career-killers for either, he says in a Tribune Op-Ed piece. That person is Steven Lubet - a Northwestern University law professor who specializes in legal and judicial ethics. * Even worse is that Lubet's piece appeared just days after telling the Trib for a news article what an ethical quagmire the situation created. [Lubet] pointed to several rules of professional conduct for judges and lawyers that Turner and Crawford might have violated when Crawford took the bench. Also, isn't it plainly unethical to skip the bar groups' interviews? It's stunning professional and public disregard. We shouldn't be surprised at the results we get from people who don't care - or who find such evaluations obstacles to their ambition. * Would you want to appear before either of these two? I would not. Credibility shattered. - The Guaranteed Rate EPL The Weekend In Chicago Rock - BeachBook Traders Discuss Data Superhighway Between Chicago And Japan. - TweetWood
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- The Beachwood Tronc Line: One website at a time. Posted on August 30, 2016 |
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