Judges from suburbs help decide Rahm Emanuel’s fate
Judges with suburban connections are helping decide Rahm Emanuel’s fate as a Chicago mayoral candidate.
One judge now reviewing Emanuel’s residency case is Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert R. Thomas, a Republican from Wheaton, who spent many years on the bench in the DuPage County courthouse, presiding over civil jury trials before becoming acting chief judge in 1989.
Thomas was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court in 1994, and has been an Illinois Supreme Court justice for 10 years.
“He is a very well known commodity in the Western suburbs. He’s got a good reputation. He’s very fair, but he doesn’t tip his hand,” said Illinois Appellate Court Judge Joe Birkett, the former DuPage County state’s attorney. “(Thomas) has very good questions, and he’s always well prepared.”
Thomas, 58, a former Chicago Bears place-kicker, made headlines in 2007 after he won a multimillion dollar libel lawsuit against a Kane County Chronicle columnist.
One of the Illinois Appellate Court judges who voted 2-1 to remove Emanuel from the ballot was Judge Thomas E. Hoffman of Inverness.
Hoffman, 63, is married to Cook County Circuit Court Judge Margarita Kulys Hoffman, who works in the municipal court in the Rolling Meadows courthouse.