Motions to knock judges off primary ballot filed with state
Three St. Clair County circuit judges who are running for re-election rather than retention are “circumventing what is intended by the Illinois Constitution,” according to legal briefs filed Thursday with the State Board of Elections.
“Judicial independence is the most important consideration at issue here -- not political accountability or partisan politics,” according to legal documents filed by lawyers hired by Belleville City Clerk Dallas Cook. “... The precedent (this) is creating is dangerous and clearly would not be the intent of the Illinois Constitution.”
By avoiding the retention election, St. Clair County Chief Judge Baricevic and fellow judges Robert Haida and Robert LeChien need only a simple majority to win, rather than obtaining 60 percent of the vote required by state law.
Cook’s lawyers — Aaron G. Weishaar and Julie M. Poplstein, of St. Louis — also filed papers with the state elections board seeking permission to subpoena records held by the judges, including their e-mails, and to depose them, or question each judge under oath.
The request for records of written communication that might have occurred between the judges pertains to “...the motives and methods behind their respective decisions” not to run for retention.
The judges filed paperwork resigning at the end of their current terms in December 2016.
According to election paperwork previously filed with the state, Baricevic and Haida are running for each other’s vacancies created by their retirements. Haida will run in Baricevic’s spot and Baricevic in Haida’s spot. LeChien, will run to fill his own vacancy.
Cook’s challenge is an effort to get the judges knocked off the ballot for the March primary and keep them off for the November election. Cook is a Republican candidate for circuit clerk. The judges are Democrats.
Michael Kaspar, a high-profile Chicago attorney who once successfully defended Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel against an election challenge, represents the judges and has until the end of business on Monday to respond. The state board meets Tuesday and could decide the issue then or schedule it for another session.
According to the written argument filed Thursday by Cook’s attorneys, “Once on the bench, a judge should be independent from political pressures unlike those of the political branches of government. ... Once elected, judges are prohibited from engaging in political activities, hence, they are to seek re-election through the non-partisan retention ballot if they wish to remain on the bench.The very purpose ...of judges seeking retention is to take party politics off the special ballot so that an incumbent judge runs on his/her own record.”
Baricevic, the only one of the three judges who has responded to the News-Democrat’s requests for comment, has said that by running in the general election, he will be less constrained by rules that apply to judges against speaking publicly on issues affecting the judiciary.
A widely known expert on judicial ethics, law professor Steven Lubet of Northwestern University, said that the tactic used by the St. Clair County judges did not violate ethical standards.
While the move is rare, it is not unprecedented. In 2006, former St. Clair County Judge Lloyd Cueto ran in the general election and won instead of running for retention.
According to the website ballotpedia.org, 148 circuit judges ran for retention in 2014, and all won.
This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Motions to knock judges off primary ballot filed with state."