Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County offers new way of evaluating judges

A newly-established civic organization will give voters more and better information about candidates for judgeships. The Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County, composed of seventeen distinguished lawyers, civic leaders, and academics, is now compiling detailed evaluations of judges who are expected to seek retention in office this year. The commission’s work is supported by a grant from the Joyce Foundation, was planned through a joint effort of Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and the Chicago Council of Lawyers, and is staffed by the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice.

The new Judicial Performance Commission is a pilot project designed to determine whether accurate, unbiased information about the judges will attract the attention of the voters and the news media and thus result in better informed elections. The Commission’s evaluations of judicial performance will also be useful to court administrators, supervisory judges, and the individual judges, themselves, in improving the Cook County courts. An evaluation might result, for example, in assignment to duties for which the judge is better suited. The Commission is modeled on a system that has been used successfully in Colorado.

The commission is chaired by Leonard Schrager, professor emeritus and former dean of the John Marshall Law School:

“I am pleased to be part of this commission and to participate in a program designed to provide sufficient information to voters so they may make informed decisions. This is the heart and soul of the democratic process.”

Members of the Commission are (affiliations are for identification purposes only):

• Leonard Jay Schrager, Professor, John Marshall Law School (Chairperson)
• Enrique Abraham, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
• Fay Lomax Cook, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
• Jan Czarnik, League of Women Voters of Illinois
• Stephen Daniels, American Bar Foundation
• Susana Darwin, American Bar Association
• Vivien C. Gross, Professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law
• Roy E. Hofer, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
• Jonathan D. King, DLA Piper US LLP
• Michelle K. Jordan, League of Women Voters
• Edward O. Laumann, The University of Chicago, Department of Sociology
• James H. Lewis, Chicago Community Trust
• Virginia Martinez, MALDEF Chicago Regional Office
• Travis Richardson, Richardson & Mackoff
• Wesley G. Skogan, Professor, Northwestern University, Department of Political Science
• Ada Skyles, Chapin Hall Research Center for Children at the University of Chicago
• Randolph N. Stone, Professor, Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School

For more information about the Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County, please contact Malcolm Rich at 312-988-6552 or by email at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).