judgesonmerit.org

Illinois joins Pennsylvania in that small group of states that elect all judges in partisan elections. It’s no suprise, then, that some judges in Illinois are engaging in an argument similar to one the Pennsylvania Supreme Court candidates had during the recent election. They are arguing about the role of money in elections and the extent to which it affects judicial independence.

The Daily Herald, a suburban Chicago newspaper, reports that three judicial candidates running in Kane County are refusing or limiting campaign contributions from attorneys.  John Dalton, one of the candidates refusing all attorney contributions explained:

“The citizens of Kane County have the right to a fair trial and an impartial judge. . .. Accepting contributions from attorneys would bring my independence and integrity into question.”

Two other candidates who declined to adopt the same guidelines also claimed to be guided by concerns about ethics and judicial independence:

“Isn’t Mr. Dalton really saying he can’t be impartial here?” [Leonard Wojtecki] said. “I know of no lawyer or judge who is going to throw away their career for a campaign contribution.”

Added [D.J.] Tegeler, a Geneva attorney: “My ethics are not to be bought. If I ever feel down the road I need to recuse myself, I’ll do it.”

But candidate Thomas Patrick Rice’s comments hit the nail on the head:

Rice, a Batavia attorney, called the debate “ludicrous” and a “ploy” for publicity. He said judicial candidates might as well refuse all donations, according to his opponents’ philosophy, because anyone could wind up in a courtroom at any time.

“I may be the only one who has the guts to tell you this, but you have to take the money,” he said. “Until we have (nonpartisan) merit selection, you have to have a campaign that costs money.”

That’s exactly right — when you have judicial elections, there’s no way to get money out of the mix.  The answer, then, is to get money out of the judicial selection system. The way to do that is Merit Selection.