From the Tribune: 
 
Judge lays down own law: No all-white juries 
Transcripts reveal controversial stand 
 
By Jeff Coen 
Tribune staff reporter 
Published July 25, 2005 
 
 A judge's comments in recent months that she would refuse to seat an all-white jury have raised eyebrows at Cook County Criminal Court and questions about whether the judge acted inappropriately. 
 
 "Folks, you all know I have a rule; I don't seat all white jurors," Circuit Judge Evelyn Clay said as a jury was being picked to hear a murder trial last month, according to court transcripts. 
 
 Chief Criminal Court Judge Paul Biebel Jr. said last week that he had recently been made aware of the remarks Clay made. 
 
 Clay admitted they were "indelicately stated" and said she regretted being blunt. But it is her view that qualified African-Americans were being left off juries without good reason, she said. 
 
 "I try to preside over jury trials in a fair and impartial way--that is always my goal," Clay said. "I carry out all my duties and responsibilities with that goal." 
 
 Clay, who is African-American, made the remarks in chambers before three separate trials, according to transcripts reviewed by the Tribune. 
 
 The first time was the April 20 trial of a man for unlawful use of a weapon. After eight jurors were picked, Clay indicated she was not satisfied with the makeup of the panel. 
 
 "I'm telling you folks, I don't know what you all intend to do, but I have no intention of seating an all-white jury," Clay said, according to transcripts. 
 
 Ronald Allen, a law professor at Northwestern University, called the judge's comments extraordinary. 
 
 "I've never heard of a judge making such a statement, and I think it was ill-advised to do so publicly," he said. "It injects an unfortunate racial element into the matter, and quite frankly it raises very serious questions about whether [the judge] is discriminating against whites." 
 
 But Allen said he is willing to give the judge the benefit of the doubt. "It may be that she thought what she was observing was [lawyers] trying to discriminate against blacks," he said, "and what she was saying is, `I'm not going to permit that.'" 
 
 In a 1986 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Batson vs. Kentucky that it was a violation of the constitution to keep blacks off juries solely because of their race. The court found that the public's confidence in the fairness of the system would be damaged. 
 
 It is reasonable to expect that almost any random selection of 12 people from Cook County would contain at least one minority, experts said, and while it may be a noble goal in seating a jury, there is no requirement that every jury must include members of a certain race. 
 
 Lawyers pointed to cases such as Holland vs. Illinois, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1990 that there is no requirement that jurors have to mirror the makeup of the larger population. 
 
 Both sides in a criminal case are allowed an equal number of "peremptory challenges" that they may use to exclude any prospective juror as a matter of strategy, but not because of their race or gender, experts said. State statutes outline who is eligible for jury service and how jurors are to be randomly selected from a pool of citizens drawn from the residents of the county. 
 
 Allen said judges have leeway to steer a jury's makeup by allowing or not allowing lawyers to drop prospective jurors "for cause." Reasons for excluding someone for cause might include their stating that they cannot be fair to one side or the other, or because they have been convicted of a crime. 
 
 "A judge who suspects someone is stacking a jury one way or the other [racially] can more heavily scrutinize challenges for cause and peremptory challenges," Allen said. 
 
 Some lawyers who work at the Criminal Courts Building said they see no problem with a judge taking a stand for diversity on juries. "I see her now as a leader in forward thinking," lawyer Sam Adam Jr. said. 
 
 "And not because it's better for black defendants to have black juries, because the truth of the matter is some of the worst juries for black defendants are black--they are tired of seeing the stuff that goes on in the neighborhood. But this is the year 2005, and if the Constitution means anything, it means a person should have certain unalienable rights--including the right to a trial by jury of his peers. That means that a person should have at least one member of a jury from his racial, ethnic or national background to consider guilt or innocence." 
 
 Sources with knowledge of the situation said the Clay matter has come to the attention of the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board, which considers allegations of judicial misconduct. But Kathy Twine, the board's executive director, said she could neither confirm nor deny that an inquiry is under way because of confidentiality restrictions. She did say, however, that the board has not filed a formal complaint with the Illinois Courts Commission. 
 
 In addition to the April 20 trial, transcripts show Clay made similar comments a few days later after nine jurors were seated to hear a first-degree murder trial. 
 
 "How many African-Americans you all have?" the judge asked, according to a transcript. "I should have all given you my rules. I don't seat an all-white jury." 
 
 On June 17, with another murder trial about to begin, court transcripts show Clay argued over the issue with Assistant State's Atty. Thomas Driscoll. 
 
 Driscoll moved to strike a prospective juror for cause. The man's race was not explicitly clear in the transcript, but the move drew the same reaction from Clay. 
 
 Driscoll pointed out that there were Hispanics and one Asian on the panel and told Clay he did not agree with her rule as a general policy because it presumed prejudice. 
 
 "It does, it does when you seat an all-white jury," the judge answered. "It looks inherently on its face like a jury that's not of [the] defendant's peers." 
 
 According to the transcripts, Driscoll responded that in his view that is why jurors are questioned about their qualifications. 
 
 "And the only thing I'm saying to you is you need to try to get-- find qualified African-Americans as well," the judge said. 
 
 Driscoll eventually accepted a black woman as the 12th juror. 
 
 The remarks are the second time recently that Clay, elected to the Circuit Court in 1996, has been the subject of controversy. In January, Clay had a prospective juror--a pregnant woman-- handcuffed and held in contempt of court after she indicated the woman could not be fair to a defendant in a gun case.