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Rolling Meadows judge retires after nearly 20 years

Cook County Judge Thomas P. Fecarotta Jr., a fixture at the Rolling Meadows courthouse known for chastising repeat offenders for “doing life on the installment plan” and cautioning those on intensive probation that they had “one foot in the penitentiary,” retired this week after a legal career spanning more than three decades.

That included nearly 20 years as a Cook County circuit court judge, 16 of them in Rolling Meadows.

Reflecting on his career as a prosecutor, defense attorney and judge, Fecarotta said the one thing every defendant wants is for someone to pay attention.

“People just want to be heard. They want their day in court,” he said. And he gave it to them.

He believed in the adage “justice delayed is justice denied” and his commitment to the timely disposition of cases earned his courtroom the nickname “rocket docket.”

He will be missed, said Cook County prosecutor Mike Gerber, who has known Fecarotta for more than 30 years and served as lead prosecutor in his courtroom.

“He's been an opponent, a colleague and a jurist, but more important, he's been a real friend who has dedicated himself to the law,” Gerber said.

Praising Fecarotta's knowledge and application of the law, Gerber commended the judge's fairness and equal treatment of those who appeared before him.

“He had a bark, but his bark was far worse than his bite,” Gerber said.

Cook County assistant public defender Calvin Aguilar said the sentences Fecarotta imposed on defendants “reflected his awareness of their backgrounds and the struggles they had in life.”

“I've been fortunate to have prosecutors, public defenders and private attorneys who make me look good because of how well they're prepared,” Fecarotta said.

A resident of Inverness, the widowed Fecarotta said he's looking forward to spending more time with his grandchild. His pension will total about $161,000 per year, he said.

As a young man, the Chicago native and Lewis University graduate had to decide between law school and following in the footsteps of his father, a 37-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department whose brother John Fecarotta, a reported mob enforcer, was murdered in 1986.

Fecarotta chose the former. Graduating from the Northern Illinois University College of Law in 1980, he briefly practiced corporate law in Dallas before returning to Chicago and joining the state's attorney's office, which he left in 1987.

Elected to the bench in 1998, he transferred a year later to Rolling Meadows, where he presided over thousands of felony cases including capital murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and armed robbery.

An opponent of mandatory minimum sentencing, Fecarotta believes such sentences do not take into account defendants' circumstances.

“In many cases the defendant doesn't deserve the statutory minimums,” he said. Yet, sentencing remained his greatest and most difficult challenge.

“You have to be compassionate, yet you have to do your job,” Fecarotta said.

  "People just want to be heard. They want their day in court," said Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta, who retired this week after nearly 20 years on the bench. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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