New legislative inspector general wants lawmakers 'to be a little scared of me'
SPRINGFIELD - Michael McCuskey has assumed his role of Illinois' legislative inspector general, bringing 32 years of judicial experience to the position charged with investigating lawmaker misconduct.
"I want them to be a little scared of me," McCuskey said of the lawmakers who appointed him on Feb. 17.
For the first time, the legislative inspector general position will be held by a former federal jurist.
McCuskey, 73, has been a judge for all but 13 years of his 45-year legal career. He served as a federal judge for 16 years, including a stint as chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.
He's a 9-to-5 guy who said he returns his calls and has friends on both sides of the aisle. He's faced murderers, corruption and greed during his more than 30 years on the bench. He's known for handing down tough sentences for criminal defendants, earning him the nickname "Maximum Mike."
McCuskey, a Democrat, is as free with his opinions as he is with a story.
He once appeared on a radio show and called the University of Illinois president and other administrators "gutless" for their handling of a student protest of an appearance of then-Gov. Bruce Rauner.
He's unapologetic about two publicly funded pensions he receives along with the paycheck for his new public job.
"I would have earned more in a private law firm - much more," McCuskey said. "I feel like this where I need to be."
He was eligible for a federal pension at his full salary of $199,100 annually when he left the federal bench in 2014. He receives $129,565 annually - about $10,797 a month - from his state pension, according to the State Employee Retirement System.
If his contract a legislative inspector general is comparable to his predecessor's, McCuskey will earn $275 for every hour he bills, with a cap of $200,000 a year.
In 1997, President Bill Clinton named him as his pick for the bench in the U.S. District Court for Central Illinois. Although his appointment languished for eight months, McCuskey was confirmed by the GOP-held Senate, including "yes" votes from then-Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and John Ashcroft of Missouri, Republicans who both later went on to serve as U.S. attorneys general.
That confirmation hearing was not as contentious as his confirmation in the General Assembly last week. The Senate voted along party lines, 37-18, but McCuskey managed to gather some support among House Republicans with a 77-16 margin of approval with 19 "present" votes.
McCuskey doesn't hold a grudge against the naysayers. It's politics, he said.
His new job as a legislative watchdog has been in the news. He took over for Carol Pope, who left the job at the beginning of the year. She called the job a "paper tiger" without teeth to investigate wrongdoing.
The public perception is that the legislative inspector general's office is very powerful, McCuskey said, as powerful as a prosecutor's office. But it is a work in progress, he said.
"How would I know how the job is going to function yet when I just started?" McCuskey said.
The search committee created by law to choose a legislative inspector general ended in a deadlock. Some Republicans complained that Democrats bypassed the search committee in appointing McCuskey, although no GOP members issued specific concerns about the judge's credibility.
The former judge is not a stranger to the limelight.
McCuskey drew national attention when he presided over the case of six students suspended for a brawl at a football game in Decatur. A civil rights lawsuit was filed by an organization headed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. McCuskey, who worked as a high school teacher and coach before he went to law school, upheld the students' suspension.
And it was McCuskey who ordered a new trial for Randy Steidl, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of newlyweds Karen and Dyke Rhoads, whose bodies were discovered on July 6, 1986, in their burning home in downstate Paris.
When new evidence was brought to light indicating Steidl's innocence in 2000, McCuskey ordered the state to retry or release Steidl, who later was exonerated.
McCuskey said he's learned to be tough but fair in his time as judge. He considers as one of his attributes the ability to discern someone's credibility. That, he said, will serve him well in his new position.
"I want to get to work," McCuskey said.
The office currently has two complaints in need of investigation, he said.