From The Southern

KARMEIER: MAAG HAS VIOLATED PLEDGE OF FAIRNESS
BY KRISTEN CATES
THE SOUTHERN
[Mon Oct 18 2004]
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS -- In the race for the Illinois Supreme Court 5th District seat which has seen a flurry of negative television commercials, supporters of Washington County Circuit Judge Lloyd Karmeier plan to file two complaints with the Illinois State Bar Association.
Karmeier supporters are asking for a pair of commercials being aired by supporters of 5th District appellate Judge Gordon Maag to stop playing on television.
Karmeier campaign spokesperson Steve Tomaszewski said the ads, prepared by and paid for by Maag supporters, inaccurately portray Karmeier's sentencing of a man who received probation for raping one young girl and sodomizing two boys.
Tomaszewski said Karmeier's campaign is alleging that Maag, a Democrat, violated the campaign pledge made with the Illinois State Bar Association in August. In that pledge, both candidates had said they would stick to clean campaign tactics, among other things.
"The race is close and so they basically have to smear Judge Karmeier," Tomaszewski said. "We're saying this is too far."
The text of the advertisement, which has run on television, says this: "He used candy to lure the children into the house. Once inside, the three children were sexually molested. A 4-year-old girl raped -- her brother sodomized. A Belleville man was arrested and convicted of the crime after trying to develop pictures of the abuse. Despite prosecutors objections, Judge Lloyd Karmeier gave him probation saying the court should grant leniency. Another case where Karmeier let a violent criminal out into the community. Lloyd Karmeier -- the wrong choice for Supreme Court."
The wording of the advertisement was false, said Tomaszewski, because Republican Karmeier sentenced the man to probation only after he had originally sentenced him to seven years and the appellate court overturned his decision.
"The ad embellishes the crime," he said.
But Maag's campaign fired back that Karmeier's team has used the same sort of record attacks against their candidate.
"They're hypocritical," said Maag spokesperson Brendan Hostetler. "It's really ironic that they're filing a complaint over our ad."
Karmeier's campaign used the same sort of tactics when running an advertisement about Maag's sentencing of a man who molested a 6-year-old girl, Hostetler said.
He questioned where Karmeier has been in all of this debate.
"I'd like to hear what he has to say," Hostetler said. "I find it really disappointing."
Supporters of Karmeier are asking that the bar association settle on this issue quickly, Tomaszewski said.