A MATTER OF OPINION Next target for needed reforms: Illinois' court system
A Matter of Opinion

Mike Lawrence
12/25/2003
One step could be through a proposed program that introduces public financing of Supreme Court campaigns. The Illinois reform train, powered by the most pandemic executive-branch corruption in the state's history, has another stop to make: the judiciary.
Election after election, the cost of campaigns for seats on the state Supreme Court has escalated, and the influence of major interest groups has grown. This trend could well seed the next megascandal unless our leaders approve public funding of high-court contests. Justice should not be - or even appear to be - on the auction block.
Fresh from enacting landmark legislation to deter wrongdoing in the executive and legislative branches, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and lawmakers can legitimately bask in their progress, but they can't rest on it. The sludge oozing from the cabal surrounding the indicted and disgraced George Ryan prodded them into approving long-sought reforms. Now they should take the initiative. Why wait for the state's highest tribunal to reek?
In the last Supreme Court race, candidates running in the 4th District of central Illinois collectively raised more than $2 million. Among the large contributors to Rita Garman's campaign were the Illinois Civil Justice League and the Illinois State Medical Society. Both organizations attack laws that they insist make businesses and physicians overly vulnerable to lawsuits. Not surprisingly, challenger Sue Myerscough received staunch financial backing from lawyers who file those lawsuits and their allies in organized labor.
Has newly elected Justice Garman been compromised? Her reputation for incorruptibility suggests otherwise. But why preserve a process that begs the question?
The state Supreme Court often has the final say in resolving issues that affect basic freedoms, health, quality of life and the ability to gain employment. And the justices have the final word on whether legislatures, governors, companies, unions, police and individual citizens have violated the rules, laws and constitutional provisions crucial to maintaining a just and orderly society. The integrity and credibility of those justices must be above reproach.
Many of us believe justice in Illinois would be best served by the appointment of judges, particularly at the review court levels, but there's little chance of scrubbing the election of jurists. Many of us also are not fans of publicly funded campaigns for the legislature and for governor but regard the justice system as uniquely delicate.
Pending legislation - which would establish a pilot program, restricted to Supreme Court races, for publicly funding Illinois judicial seats - represents a modest step toward public funding at the top tier of the judiciary. If approved, it would cost an estimated $3 million per election cycle and would be bankrolled by a combination of court-related fees and voluntary taxpayer contributions through tax-form checkoffs.
Candidates who take advantage of the program could accept no private contributions exceeding $100. Those who opt out of the funding plan could raise unrestricted amounts of money - at the risk of voter alienation.
Unfortunately, this legislation could not be approved in time to affect next year's contest for the 5th District seat on the Supreme Court. The district includes Madison County, a haven for plaintiffs' lawyers and the bane of defense attorneys, and the battle there likely will unleash a repugnant rush of interest-group dollars.
Still, if Blagojevich and the Legislature fail to pass the legislation, the 5th District race should provide loads of fuel for a reform train that is picking up more steam all the time.

Mike Lawrence, who served as press secretary and senior adviser to former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, is associate director of the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.