Judge unfairly attacked by machine politicians

This is in response to a letter written by Brendan Shiller, president of the Judicial Accountability Project and published in the Herald on Friday, Oct. 2. It carries the recommendation that voters not retain a sitting Circuit Court judge, Michael Toomin. I strongly disagree.

Judge Toomin has served on the bench for approximately 40 years. In that time, he has been highly regarded; served on several committees regarding criminal justice reforms, offered sought-after opinions to Appellate and Supreme Court justices, received high marks from bar associations and was re-elected every term. So, what suddenly happened?

It appears that the Cook County political powers that be decided he was unfit because he had the audacity to appoint a neutral, independent, qualified special prosecutor to investigate State's Attorney Kim Foxx's handling of the high-profile case of actor Jussie Smollett.

It embarrassed Foxx and infuriated the Cook County Machine. Suddenly he was branded as an unqualified judge and recommended for non-retention.

If the Democratic Party had issues with his performance, why didn't they express them in these last 30 to 40 years? Could it be that he now displayed his independence in the name of transparency? That he refused to remain silent about the state's attorney's sudden decision to drop all charges without explanation? Don't we all wonder why?

Instead, the conjured-up reason was that he didn't re-release two juveniles after charges of armed robbery and who twice slipped out of their home monitoring devices. Was this all they could find?

If this is the treatment given to a respected judge, we should all be very concerned. However, it is more important to note that for this election, Judge Toomin has received the endorsement and high marks from every single bar association in Cook County. That should carry more weight than pure political blackballing.

Helen Pawasarat

Palatine