By Bonnie McGrath
That morning Duff began his day as usual. He got into the bathtub and read the front page of the Tribune while he soaked. Under a picture of Jeff Maier–the boy from New Jersey who reeled in the Yankee home run–there was the headline “Judge steps down after decade of controversy” and the subhead “Duff was known for erratic actions.”
The story briefly summarized his political history, highlighting his tenure as a state legislator and his unsuccessful run for secretary of state. In 1985 Senator Charles Percy recommended Duff for a federal judgeship.
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The Tribune also included an oft-quoted, several-years-old gossipy characterization of Duff by the Chicago Council of Lawyers: “Judge Duff’s outbursts go far beyond the range of irascibility that judges sometimes show towards lawyers. The frequency, unpredictability and severity of the outbursts go beyond the ability of the Council to provide an explanation. Some lawyers report that the only way to avoid Judge Duff’s ire is to grovel and constantly flatter him.” But he is “extremely hardwork-ing…seems to have at least adequate legal abilities…can be charming and usually is off the bench.”
The banner headline yelled “Judge to step down,” and the article explained that Duff asked to be removed from “active duty” the day before due to “an unexplained medical problem.” The article stated that he would, however, rule on the remap case, for which he’d already heard evidence and arguments.
That night he made his last social appearance as an active judge. None of the fresh-faced attorneys at the cocktail party at Mare, where Duff was a guest of the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association, knew of the bombshell that would hit the papers the next morning.
The judge walked over to the cash machine and retrieved $200. At about 10 PM he asked a cabdriver to take him to Glenview. He was determined to get a good night’s sleep.
