From the Belleville News Democrat

Sep. 08, 2004

Supreme Court candidates square off in discussion
Associated PressCARBONDALE - Illinois Supreme Court candidates Lloyd Karmeier and Gordon Maag discussed their differences during a rare joint appearance Tuesday, despite being unable to debate the issues.
Republican Karmeier, a Washington County circuit judge, told students at Southern Illinois University he would bring balance to a court dominated by judges from St. Clair and Madison counties.
Maag, meanwhile, told the group he was aware of the rising medical malpractice insurance rates that some say are driving doctors out of Illinois.
The two candidates did not answer questions from the floor or debate.
Each is barred by Supreme Court rules from revealing his position on any given issue before the court or to reveal how he would vote.
The area near St. Louis has developed a national reputation as being overly friendly to plaintiffs in big lawsuits and medical malpractice cases, and Karmeier, of Nashville, has received backing from groups that support caps on damage awards.
"I think I, as a judge from a small community outside the metro-east area that's suffered the brunt of the current criticism, can bring a sense of balance and a sense of fairness to this court," he told law students who had gathered to hear the candidates review their qualifications.
Maag is an Appellate Court justice who lives in Glen Carbon.
The Democrat took the podium and said his job as vice chairman of a St. Louis children's hospital has made him intimately aware of rising medical malpractice insurance costs in Illinois.
Physicians in several towns say those rates are driving them out of Illinois. Maag called on the legislature to act.
"I'm not permitted to sit up here and advance a specific legislative solution," he told the audience. "But I wholeheartedly believe we do need legislative action and we need it immediately."