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THE IMPORTANCE OF VOTING TO RETAIN JUDGES
CHICAGO:- It is essential that Cook County voters take the time to learn about the First District and Cook Country judges running for retention on November 7, according to Gino Divito, an attorney, former appellate court justice and chair of the Committee for Retention of Judges in Cook County, 2000. “There are 77 non-partisan retention judges whose names will appear on the green ballot,” DiVito said. “As a group, they are among the finest judges in Cook Country and include some of the most highly-regarded judges of the county’s circuit and reviewing courts. Most have outstanding individual records and should be retained.”
A supreme court judge, three appellate court judges, and 73 circuit court judges—-including four who are assigned to the appellate court—are up for retention. They preside over hundreds of thousands of cases filed annually in Cook County. Those cases cover the wide range of issues confronting our justice system, including child custody, divorce, criminal, and all the others that protect citizens and vindicate their rights. Voters will have an opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” for the retention judges on the green retention ballot when they vote on Tuesday, Nov.7 for other candidates for public office.
“It is a challenge for any voter to learn about so many candidates, but the consequences of a ‘no’ vote are serious,” Divito said. “Previous elections show that there is a built-in 20 percent negative vote. Even the best judges seldom win more than a 75 percent ‘yes’ vote. But no citizen should automatically vote ‘no’ in a judicial retention election. Wholesale rejection of the judges would cause immediate havoc in the courts and long-term adverse consequences in the justice system. No institution is so rich in talent that it can compensate for the unexpected loss of its most experienced members.” Among ways to become informed about a judge’s record are through the news media and by the evaluations of the candidates by the bar associations.
The bar associations rate each judge’s experience, legal acumen, temperament, compassion, integrity, independence, fairness and freedom from bias. Results can be obtained directly from each bar association or by coverage given by the media. In addition, DiVito pointed out, biographical information about each retention judge can be obtained on the Internet, at www.retentionjudges.com. These are some of the better ways tha voters can learn about the retention judges and feel confident that their votes are being cast intelligently,” DiVito said.
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