Dear editor:
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I was president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers from 1991 to 1993, and previously was cochair of its state judicial evaluation committee. (I was not involved in this year’s ratings.) The Council has been rating judges and judicial candidates for 25 years. The Council was founded in 1969 because of a perception that the Chicago Bar Association was rarely willing to criticize the quality of judges in Cook County.
Bar associations can obtain almost no meaningful information criticizing a candidate without a promise of confidentiality. Reporters are familiar with the problem of sources who do not wish to go public. They should understand that lawyers–who make their livelihoods practicing before judges–are loath to publicly criticize a candidate before whom they may have to practice.
Having small groups–or large groups–voting on judges on the basis of politics, without information about their actual performance, is what has led us to our current judiciary. (Once again, yesterday’s races led to a number of “not qualified” judges winning primary races.) Frankly, your article is just one more argument for why we need an appointed judiciary.
