A coalition of business and good government groups is asking Illinois to investigate state Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier.
The coalition, made up of Common Cause, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest and Citizen Action/Illinois, Tuesday asked the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board to investigate Karmeier's acceptance of $2.5 million in donations for his 2004 election campaign, in light of his then castig [sic] the deciding vote for his donors in two pending cases decided in 2005.
This, of course, is the inherent flaw in the system of electing judges. When a judge has to go back to the ballot box on a regular basis to keep his job he will become enamored by big dollar supporters. I’m not sure that the Justice intentionally “sold” his vote to his supporters, but when you get to know someone (or something), especially if they have supported you, it is easy to convince yourself to view them in a positive light.
If we want to avoid the continuing corruption our Justice system in Illinois then we need to stop asking our Judges to run for office like politicians.
No comments:
Post a Comment