Who knew? Key to becoming judge is who you know

April 29, 2003

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter

A two-year, $100,000 study by a Chicago public interest group confirms what critics have charged for years: Clout and money, not legal ability, are the main factors determining who gets elected judge in Cook County; or, a ward boss in the hand is worth a newspaper endorsement in the bush.

"Some of the most important factors in getting elected judge are getting slated and getting the money to get slated," said David Melton, president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers. "We think that's unfortunate. We think the emphasis should be on people's qualifications to be judge."

The Council's Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice contracted with two professors from Washington University in St. Louis to analyze the results of every judicial primary and general election in Cook County since 1988.

The professors found that a lawyer running countywide for judge without the blessing of the Cook County Democratic Party's central committee had only a 5.8 percent chance of winning. If they received the coveted "slating" of the Democratic ward bosses, their chances increased to 68.4 percent.

In the judicial "subcircuits" created in 1992 to elect more minorities from 15 smaller districts within Cook County, a candidate running without the blessing of the local Democratic ward or township committeemen had an 8.9 percent chance of winning. A slated candidate had a 76 percent chance of winning.

In the handful of suburban subcircuits where Republicans have a chance of winning, a non-slated Republican had a 15 percent chance of winning. Those running with the imprimatur of the Republican township committeeman had an 86.4 percent chance of winning.

The professors concluded that the voters in most cases have given over their franchise to the ward bosses to choose judges for them.

"Essentially, the slating committee serves as an appointment committee--but with little consideration of judicial qualifications," the report states. "This is ironic, because judicial elections were instituted in Illinois in order to do away with the perceived flaw of an appointive system--placing the selection of judges in the hands of a few select individuals rather than the public."

But the report is not a call to abandon judicial elections, said Malcolm Rich, executive director of the Fund and the Council of Lawyers. Rather, the report offers several recommendations to better inform voters so they can make wiser choices in judicial elections.

The study found that spending an extra $10,000 increased the possibility of getting slated by the Democratic Party organization for a countywide judicial election from 23.6 percent to 31.8 percent. Spending an extra $50,000 increased the probability to 69.8 percent. The study's authors note that candidates who are slated are expected to chip in $15,000 or more to the party for their share of the advertising bill.

"The data reveal a consistent and significant relationship between money and slating," the report concluded. "That relationship may take one of two forms: Fundraising increases the likelihood of being slated, or slating increases the potential for fund-raising."

After political connections and money, other factors, such as having an Irish surname, being female, and having the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune (the Sun-Times generally does not make endorsements in judicial elections) also help to a lesser extent, the study found.

The study found that candidates running in the subcircuits raise more money on average than candidates running countywide.

"Subcircuit elections greatly increased the importance of judicial fundraising and slating by local political organizations, creating a new campaign financing culture that is continuing to expand," the report said.

The silver lining was that candidates without clout had been able to beat the slated candidates in some subcircuits, by working hard, raising money, and getting volunteers to help their cause.

"High quality candidates not slated by the dominant political party have shown that they can raise enough funds to win," the report said. "In other instances, however, poorly qualified slated candidates have beaten out more qualified people who did not have the ability to raise large amounts of campaign funds."

Twenty Cook County judges have gone to prison in as many years for corruption.