A referendum was held to determine whether the voters wanted liquor to be sold at retail in their precincts. The ballots were printed in English, Spanish, and Chinese. These consolidated lawsuits considered whether the translation of “sale at retail” to Chinese was substantial compliance with the statutory requirements of the…
In twin cases, former aldermen Virgil Jones and Ambrosio Medrano, both convicted of federal felonies for misconduct in office, filed nomination papers to run for alderman again. Challenges were made to their nomination papers on the basis that the Illinois Municipal Code prohibited convicted felons from serving in an “elective…
A bill that would establish public funding for campaigns for Illinois appellate and supreme courts stalled at the end of the General Assembly Spring session. I’ve reported occasionally about the status of SB 0222. The bill would give primary winners for the appellate and supreme court seats public money for…
Earlier this month, SB 0222, the bill to regulate judicial campaigns by institutionalizing public funding for appellate and supreme court seats and limiting contributions to all candidates passed in the Illinois Senate. The vote was 46 to 12. Click here to see the vote. The bill is pending in the…
In Illinois, judges are elected officials. They campaign for office, just like every other politician. Once elected, their actions are subject to political analysis and opinion, including conjecture and speculation, just like every other politician. No politician likes that, but two governing principles allow it: the First Amendment to the…
Illinois Senate Bill 0222, which would give public money to primary winners for their campaigns for appellate and supreme court seats, advanced out of committee to the full Senate today. The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reports (subscription required) that the bill was unanimously passed by the Senate Local Government Committee.…
Since I last reported on SB 0222 on February 14, the bill has picked up three additional sponsors: Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-16th), a Chief Co-Sponsor; Sen. Susan Garrett (D-29th), a Chief Co-Sponsor; and Sen. William Delgado (D-2nd). Yesterday the bill was referred to the Senate Local Government Committee, which has…
I first wrote about the pending Illinois Senate bill to provide public financing for appellate and supreme court judicial candidates a few days ago. It’s SB0222, filed by Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-13th) (Chicago), on February 7, 2007. The bill has bi-partisan sponsorship; a chief co-sponsor is Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-24th)…
A bill pending in the Illinois General Assembly would change financing and spending for candidates for the Illinois Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal. STLtoday.com today reports on a plan to allot $750,000 to supreme court candidates and $250,000 to appellate court candidates from a public trust fund. More details…
The Illinois Supreme Court named Judge James Wexstten to the Fifth District Appellate Court today. Here is the full press release.