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Supreme Court: Better system needed
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| Contributor | ev |
| Last Edited | ev Oct 05, 2010 12:04am |
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| Category | Opinion |
| Author | The State Journal-Register |
| News Date | Tuesday, October 5, 2010 08:40:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Retention votes for Illinois Supreme Court justices traditionally dwell deep on the undercard of Election Day matchups.
Every 10 years, sitting justices must obtain 60 percent approval on a yes/no vote to stay on the court. No justice seeking retention has failed to get it.
This year, though, the retention bid of Justice Thomas Kilbride is getting billing just behind the main event. This "contest" pits Kilbride not against another candidate, but against a strong effort by those who disagree with his decisions and want to see him kicked off the court.
To us, this is the perfect case study on why Illinois desperately needs to re-examine the way it elects and retains its supreme court judges.
Kilbride has drawn the ire of some business interests who see his record on the court as being anti-business. The latest example was the decision this year that struck down caps on malpractice awards. Kilbride joined the majority in ruling that the 2005 law that imposed the caps violated the state constitution by allowing the legislative branch to infringe on judicial territory.
Largely because of that, Kilbride is facing a campaign against his retention led by the Illinois Civil Justice League, a group financed by various business interests that has said it wants to raise up to $1.4 million for its effort to unseat Kilbride. |
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