Law limits judges' campaigns

Voters generally know what to expect from candidates for public office.

Promises of specific action to address issues, a detailed list of their beliefs and attitudes and, of course, scathing attacks on their opponents.

But those running for circuit judge in this state can engage in none of the above, or at least they are not supposed to, because of a stringent set of rules laid down by the state Supreme Court.

Even at a recent forum, held expressly for candidates to meet constituents and debate their views, judges and judicial hopefuls stood mostly on the sidelines, introducing themselves but saying little else.

"We need to have judges who are impartial and who remain impartial in every case," said David Morrison, assistant director for the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform in Chicago.

"You do not want to have a judge say 'I am 100 percent in favor of the death penalty' during a campaign, then when dealing with a case where the death penalty may or may not be appropriate, feel hemmed in by a campaign promise," Morrison said.

A quandary develops, according to David Rendleman, an associate professor of legal studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield, when judicial candidates are listed alongside other candidates for elected office.

"Judges perform a role that is different from that of a county board member or city council member in that they are not answerable to the public in the same way," Rendleman said. "The judge's role is to apply the law in a way that the public may or may not like."

The Supreme Court's Code of Judicial Conduct and Rules of Professional Conduct govern campaign practices for both sitting judges and lawyers seeking elevation to the bench.

The most significant of the rules of campaigning prohibit candidates from making "statements that commit or appear to commit the candidate with respect to cases, controversies or issues within cases that are likely to come before the court."

While voters may be most interested in knowing how a candidate for judge feels about tort reform, mandatory sentences or other legal issues before casting a ballot, the rules of conduct offer only frustration.

In short; don't ask because they can't tell.

"If someone asks me how I feel about the death penalty, I generally respond 'Well, I am a Democrat,'" said attorney David Weinstein, candidate in the county's second judicial subcircuit. "The general guide is if you are not sure it is all right to say it, don't say it."

So the races become, in the words of Weinstein's Republican opponent Circuit Judge Valerie Boettle Ceckowski, a matter of "getting your name and your record out there."

To do so, some traditional campaign practices are allowed, as Ceckowski demonstrated when she and supporters marched in the Lake Bluff July 4th parade.

"You want to make contact with people, let them know you will rule on the law and what the legislature provides," she said. "It is not a matter of what you personally believe, because your personal opinions do not enter into it."

The same holiday weekend saw Weinstein busy as well, knocking on doors in one of the 76 election precincts that make up the second subcircuit.

He said he uses a computer program developed by the state Democratic party that identifies recent primary voters and which party they voted with.

"I just introduce myself, telling them I am running and ask for their support," Weinstein said. "Then we rate the responses and make sure we stay in touch with the people who seem favorable."

Judicial candidates are also not allowed to solicit campaign donations for themselves and must have separate fundraising committees to do so. They may not hold office in political organizations, publicly endorse or oppose candidates for other offices or make speeches on behalf of political organizations.

And, in keeping with the order requiring candidates to "Maintain the dignity appropriate to judicial office," there is no sniping back and forth between the candidates.

"I don't mention my opponent or criticize him in any way when I am talking to people," Ceckowski said. "I talk about my qualifications and why I am the better candidate and leave it at that."

Rendleman said there are some resources for those who would like to make the most informed choice they can for the person who may someday decide their fate.

"Certainly, the rankings of the bar associations are valuable guides because the records and qualifications of the candidates are evaluated," he said. "Local elections are traditionally easier to decipher, because there are fewer candidates and more chances for people to interact with them and make their own evaluations."

There are those who would expand the opportunity for judge candidates to tell you how they feel about things that are important to them.

James Bopp Jr. is a Terre Haute, Ind., lawyer who successfully argued the Republican Party of Minnesota v. White case before the U.S. Supreme Court that saw a ban on judicial candidates comments on policy matters struck down because it was an unconstitutional restriction of free speech.

"Judges make law and voters are being asked to make a choice," Bopp said. "Their views on social issues should be on the record, because there are a lot of activist judges running around out there that the people should be aware of."

Rendleman, a member of the Judicial Ethics Panel sponsored by the Illinois Judge's Association, Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association, said the 2002 ruling in White has had no impact in Illinois to date.

The ruling, Rendleman said, was a victory for special interest and single interest groups who want to develop a 'litmus test' for judicial candidates at all levels.

"In the first place, the Minnesota regulation was much more narrow than what we have in Illinois," he said. "Secondly, it is not something Illinois judicial candidates have shown any interest in as far as expanding to our state."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=247366">A look at two Lake Co. judge races <span class="date">[11/02/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>