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Editorial: Judge should recuse himself in Hastert case

A computer program that assigned the federal case against Dennis Hastert to U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin opened a new can of worms involving the former U.S. House speaker.

Cases are matched up with judges at random, the U.S. District Court clerk's office reports, to keep things fair. Judges can't cherry-pick the "best" cases and no one can steer a case to a judge who, for whatever reason, is deemed more favorable.

But as it turns out, Hastert and Judge Durkin have several connections that seem to thwart the goals of random case assignment.

Durkin donated a total of $1,500 to Hastert's election campaigns in 2002 and 2004 when Durkin was a lawyer at the Mayer Brown law firm in Chicago. Hastert's son, Ethan Hastert, now is a partner at the same firm.

And Durkin is the brother of longtime Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, a top GOP official in the state where Republican Hastert won election to Congress 11 times. A former federal prosecutor, Thomas Durkin has been on the bench since 2012.

Hastert, 73, is accused by federal prosecutors of lying to the FBI and evading bank regulations while withdrawing nearly $1 million in cash to make payments covering up "misconduct" from decades ago. The indictment doesn't specify that misconduct, but several news organizations including The New Times quote unnamed federal sources as saying it involved inappropriate contact with a male student while Hastert was a history teacher and coach at Yorkville High School between 1965 and 1981.

Hastert is free on $4,500 bond. His first court date, originally scheduled for today, now is set for Tuesday in Chicago.

We urge Judge Durkin to remove himself from hearing the case against Hastert.

The connections between the two men don't necessarily set the stage for bias in the handling of the court proceedings. And some legal experts are of the opinion the ties between Hastert and Durkin are not substantial enough to mandate the judge recuse himself.

Still, in a case this sensitive, it would be best for the judge to head off any appearance of his political and professional links to the defendant affecting the outcome.

When Hastert's hearing begins Tuesday at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago, one of the first things that should happen is a substitution of judges. Durkin should bow out, so some other judge will hear the case against Hastert, once second in line to the presidency and the longest-serving Republican House speaker in history.

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