ACS Panel on Judicial Diversity

Staff attorney Elizabeth Monkus participated in a panel discussion with Justice Mary Jane Theis and Circuit Court judges Patrice Ball-Reed and Rossana Fernandez at the American Constitution Society’s first Midwest Convening on Saturday, October 15. The panel discussed diversity on the bench and The...
October 17, 2016

Ruling in Case Concerning Judicial Retention or Re-Election

In March, we wrote about a complaint filed with the State Board of Elections, concerning three judges in southern Illinois’ 20th judicial circuit—Chief Judge John Baricevic and Circuit Judges Robert Haid and Robert LeChien—who resigned in August and announced their intentions to run in the general e...
August 12, 2016

ACS Report on Judicial Diversity

The American Constitution Society recently released a report, The Gavel Gap, on the demographics of state court judges, highlighting the discrepancies among the demographics of our communities, law school graduates, and judges on the bench. Overall, the report finds that courts are not representativ...
July 21, 2016

Resign, Re-run, Avoid Retention

Three judges in southern Illinois’ 20th judicial circuit—Chief Judge John Baricevic and Circuit Judges Robert Haid and Robert LeChien—resigned in August in order to avoid retention elections. Judges Baricevic and LeChien each had narrow retention margins in their 2010 retention election, but Judge H...
March 23, 2016

Judicial Elections, Ethics Rules and the Ongoing Impact of Campaign Financing

The Tennessee Rules for judicial election campaign conduct are considered an excellent model for Supreme Court rules in jurisdictions that elect judges. In early December, the Tennessee Supreme Court amended the provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct regarding judges and judicial candidates’ ele...
January 4, 2016