From the Chicago Tribune

4 Cook judges get a `no' vote
Bar group rates 67 others qualified
By Mickey Ciokajlo
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 12, 2004

Four Cook County judges are unfit to remain on the bench, the Chicago Bar Association said Monday.
Each is in familiar territory.
The lawyers group, which evaluates judicial candidates, gave the four "not recommended" ratings in 1998, the last time their names went before voters.
Seventy-one Cook County Circuit judges are up for retention in the Nov. 2 election; the bar group's judicial evaluation committee determined that 67 of them are qualified for the job.
The four judges that received a "not recommended" rating are: Dorothy F. Jones, Susan J. McDunn, Dennis J. Morrissey and William D. O'Neal.
"These are four that should not be retained by the voters," said Michael J. Murray, co-chairman of the evaluation committee.
Every six years, judges must go before the voters to remain on the bench. A judge must receive at least 60 percent "yes" votes to be retained. No judge has been voted off the bench since 1990, when a record seven jurists failed to attain the 60 percent threshold.
Jones, McDunn and O'Neal were elected in 1992. Each was retained in 1998 despite a negative rating from the Chicago Bar Association.
Morrissey was first elected in 1998 despite the bar group's negative rating against him.
This election, the CBA said it has "serious concerns" about Morrissey's ability to render decisions in a timely fashion.
Morrissey said he was surprised and disappointed by the rating and said other local bar associations have found him qualified.
The CBA and the Chicago Council of Lawyers are the only bar groups that provide explanations for their ratings. The lawyer council's evaluations are expected to be released this week.
"I just disagree with their opinion," Morrissey said of the CBA rating. "I work so hard. I put a lot of hours in. I take work home in the evenings and on the weekends."
The CBA said it had concerns about McDunn's judicial ability and said she was indecisive in ruling on matters of evidence.
McDunn said the group's finding was not justified and said she was "one of the best jury trial judges in the 1st Municipal Division."
She said she handled 89 jury trials in the 14 months ending Aug. 31, the most of her division's 10 judges. She said she has cut her backlog of cases by 25 percent since she took her current assignment on July 1, 2003.
The CBA said O'Neal does not possess the "requisite legal knowledge and ability" to be a judge.
Jones declined to participate in the evaluation process, which showed her "disregard for the bench, the bar and the public," the bar group said.
Jones and O'Neal could not be reached for comment.
The CBA's judicial ratings are posted on the group's Web site (www.chicagobar.org).
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