Welcome to the website of JUDICIAL FAIRNESS PROJECT. We know your online privacy is important to you, and we want you to know how we may collect, use, disclose, or store Personal Information on this website (“Website”). “Personal Information” is your name, contact information, and other data associated with your name or contact information.
This Privacy Policy applies to JUDICIAL FAIRNESS PROJECT online collection of Personal Information via this Website. Please note that this Policy does not govern JUDICIAL FAIRNESS PROJECT offline collection of Personal Information or collection of Personal Information, online or offline, by JUDICIAL FAIRNESS PROJECT affiliates, or any other entity, unless otherwise specifically stated. This Policy does not apply to JUDICIAL FAIRNESS PROJECT’s presence on a third-party social networking site or any mobile applications not offered for download on this Website. Please see the privacy statements at those locations to learn how your information will be handled.
Personal Information
We collect the Personal Information you provide us when you request information, register with our Website, make postings to our Website using a registered account, volunteer Personal Information in a survey, communicate with us via email, or otherwise contact us. JUDICIAL FAIRNESS PROJECT uses such information to provide you service, improve its offerings, and advance its mission.
We may share your Personal Information with our service providers and affiliates, as well as other organizations that share our views. We may make this information available to other third parties. We will disclose Personal Information if required by law and may share it in order to protect the legal rights, property, or safety of us or third parties. We also will disclose Personal Information to any new or successor entity should JUDICIAL FAIRNESS PROJECT be reorganized, acquired, or merged with another entity, in whole or in part.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
Like many websites, this Website may use cookies, image tags, and similar technologies. A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that is stored on your computer. Image tags (also called web beacons, web bugs, clear GIFs, or single-pixel GIFs), which work in conjunction with cookies, are small image files that may be located on select pages of our Website or within web-based emails that we may send. We may also collect your IP address and other information that your browser makes available as a function of visiting our Website.
We use these technologies to learn how our site is used, save your preferences, and improve the performance and offerings of our Website. These technologies do not collect Personal Information, as they do not include your name or contact information. We may share information collected via these technologies to improve our offerings, to advance our mission, or for other purposes.
Email, Mail, and Telephone Communications
If you decide you no longer wish to receive periodic mailings, telephone contacts, or emails from us and like-minded organizations, please let us know by following the instructions you can find on this Website or in the mailings themselves. For example, should you wish to opt-out from emails, you may follow the instructions in the email on how to unsubscribe from such mailings.
Children’s Privacy
We do not knowingly contact or collect Personal Information from children under 13, and our site is not intended to solicit information of any kind from children under 13. When a user discloses Personal Information on the Website, he or she is representing his or her age as at least 13 years. If we are informed that we have unintentionally received Personal Information from a child under 13, we will delete that information.
Third-Party Links
This Website may include links to online offerings provided by third parties that JUDICIAL FAIRNESS PROJECT does not own or control. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those third-party offerings. We encourage you to visit any privacy statement available at those locations to learn how your Personal Information may be collected and used.
Security
JUDICIAL FAIRNESS PROJECT has taken steps designed to protect the loss, misuse, or alteration of your Personal Information. Please note that Personal Information sent over an unsecured Internet connection could be obtained by third parties.
Updates to Privacy Policy
From time to time, we may use customer information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy policy. If our information practices change materially at some time in the future, we will post an updated policy to our Website.
Contact
If you have questions concerning this Privacy Policy and/or the Website, please contact:
Info@judicialfairnessil.com
Effective Date: 5/17/2021
Justice Ware was slated, elected and served on Cook County Circuit Court until his retirement in 2003
Winnebago County Associate Judge Steven Vecchio allegedly intervened in a number of matters involving police action on behalf of his personal friends and acquaintances, using his position as judge to affect or influence police conduct. 7 Complaint dismissed by the Illinois Courts Commission with no consequences imposed.
In a case of ghost payrolling from the bench, St. Clair County Circuit Judge Roger Scrivner was charged with paying jurors for days when they did not attend court or deliberate merely because they were voters. When asked about his motive, Scrivner simply responded: ‘You know, to put your best foot forward in front of these jurors. These are your voters out there.’8 Complaint dismissed by the Illinois Courts Commission with no consequences imposed.
A complaint charged that Cook County Associate Judge Charles A. Alfano assaulted a police officer issuing a traffic citation to his son. The judge first tried to convince the officer not to issue a citation to his son, and after he was unsuccessful, he became angry and verbally abused and is alleged to have physically assaulted the officer.9 Complaint dismissed by the Illinois Courts Commission with no consequences imposed.
Cook County Judge Arthur Rosenblum allegedly used his position as a judge to improperly influence criminal proceedings against a former tenant in a building he owned, and when prosecutors said jurors would not be told he was a judge if the case went to trial, the judge specifically stated that he hoped the jury would know he was a judge before the jury decided the defendant’s fate.10 Complaint dismissed by the Illinois Courts Commission with no consequences imposed.
Cook County Circuit Judge Michael Close allegedly derided multiple nationalities, be it those ‘limey Britishers’ or Yugoslavians, whom he called ‘not (the) greatest citizens in the United States.’ Danish women, the judge suggested, are easy. In dismissing a home-invasion charge, he said he could believe that a woman of Danish heritage would have invited the defendant home and demanded sex.11 Complaint dismissed by the Illinois Courts Commission with no consequences imposed.
a. Stating: “But the process at its core remains a political one in which proven loyalty to the party outweighs legal credentials.” 1
a. From 2003 to 2011, Madigan recommended 37 lawyers to be appointed associate judges and 25 were selected.
b. Half of the lawyers recommended by Madigan had contributed to his daughter, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Thomas:
a. The changes approved by the legislature were projected to save the state $160 Billion over 30 years and erase a $100 Billion pension shortfall.
b. The pension legislation raised the retirement age for some employees, capped pensionable salaries, and limited cost-of-living increases.
c. “Unions representing current and retired employees sued, arguing that the changes violated the state's pension clause…”
a. “The decision, written by Justice Anne Burke, rejected a lower court’s ruling that found the 2007 law violated the Illinois Constitution’s prohibition against special legislation.”
b. At issue in the case was a law passed in 2006 that allowed union officials to count their union service towards a state teachers pension, but only if they had obtained teaching certificates and worked in a classroom before the bill was signed into law.
a. The caps were passed on a bipartisan basis and signed by a Democratic Governor due to concerns that skyrocketing malpractice insurance costs were driving doctors out of Illinois.
a. “The Court said the legislature’s caps violate the separation of powers by infringing on the judiciary.”
b. The ruling represented the Court’s third rejection of malpractice caps and struck down the entirety of the 2005 law.
c. Justices Karmeier and Garman dissented from the opinion, writing that the Supreme Court’s job was to “do justice under the law, not to make the law. Formulating statutory solutions to social problems is the prerogative of the legislature. Whether there is a solution to the health-care crisis is anyone’s guess. I am certain, however, that if such a solution can be found, it will not come from the judicial branch. It is critical, therefore, that the courts not stand as an obstacle to legitimate efforts by the legislature and others to find an answer.”
1. In 2014, LaSalle County Circuit Judge Joseph Hettel Pled Guilty To DUI2
2. In 2009, Peoria County Associate Judge Albert Purham Jr. Pled Guilty To DUI3
3. In 2008, Cook County Judge Sheila McGinnis Was Arrested For DUI4
4. In 2006, Associate Judge Steven Nordquist Pled Guilty To DUI5
5. In 2006, St. Clair Judge Patrick Young Was Charged With DUI6
6. In 1998, LaSalle County Circuit Judge Cynthia Raccuglia Was Arrested For DUI7
7. In 1998, Cook County Associate Judge Edwin Gausselin Was Arrested For DUI8
8. In 1990, Sangamon County Associate Judge George Ray Was Reprimanded – The Lowest Possible Punishment – For DUI9
9. In 1980, Appellate Judge John Karns Jr. Was Arrested For DUI10
10. In 1975, Cook County Associate Judge Robert Sweeney Was Reprimanded – The Lowest Possible Punishment – For DUI11
11. In 1973, Stephenson County Circuit Court Judge Robert Law Was Censured, But Not Removed From Office, For DUI Three Times12