A version of this story was co-published with the Chicago Sun-Times.
A secret vote is underway to determine which of 138 Cook County judges should keep their jobs.
If you didn’t know about it, that’s no surprise. The only eligible voters for this insiders-only balloting are Cook County circuit judges. It’s up to them to decide who among the current associate judges should stay on the bench, getting new, four-year terms.
Votes are being cast until the end of May.
Supporters of the system say it results in merit selection to a greater degree than the public elections in which circuit judges are chosen.
"The associate-judge process is probably the closest thing to merit selection that we have," says now-retired Judge Daniel Locallo, who served at the circuit and associate level.
Speaking as a member of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, David Melton noted the associate program is not perfect: “You’re getting a much more informed and participatory active electorate, and they will, to some extent, be much more familiar with the candidates than the general public.”
Others find fault with the process.
"Most of us have no idea as to whether associate judges do their job and do it adequately," says one circuit judge, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The judges who can vote aren’t told anything about whether the presiding judges or chief judge think particular associate judges have been doing a good job, the judge says: “Nothing. And yet we vote.”
And that’s a judge. Most other people wouldn’t even know the difference between associate judges and circuit judges. Beside being selected differently, associate judges are paid a little less, and their terms expire every four years, unlike the six-year terms circuit judges get.
All Cook County judges are assigned to the same courtrooms. Under state law, associate judges are required to have Illinois Supreme Court approval before they can oversee felony cases, but that approval is routine.
When elections are held for circuit judge, new candidates and those running to be retained on the bench are screened by the Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the Illinois State Bar Association and nine special interest bar groups. For associate judges, only the Chicago Bar Association even tries to evaluate the candidates seeking retention.
Many lawyers who want to be a judge seek associate posts to avoid the politics of running for circuit judge. Also, candidates from minority groups generally fare poorly in countywide judicial elections.
Even though the selection of associate judges is intended to be more about merit, political connections don’t seem to hurt.
Donald Panarese Jr. and Joseph Panarese are on the current ballot, seeking new terms. Their father was the late Cook County Circuit Judge Donald Panarese Sr.
Myron Mackoff — the son of retired Cook County Circuit Judge Benjamin Mackoff — is one of five associate judges chosen by the circuit judges last year after filling temporary vacancies on the circuit court and then losing in the primary election race for those seats.
Judge James B. Linn, who is seeking a new, four-year term as an associate judge, is the son of the late appellate Judge David Linn.
Arthur Hill, who was an assistant Cook County state's attorney when Richard M. Daley was the elected top prosecutor, was appointed to the CTA board and then the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission before being appointed as an associate judge in 2003.
Production by Abigail Blachman | Reporting by Abigail Blachman, Alecia Richards, Alejandro Fernández Sanabria, Emily Hoerner, and John Seasly | Research by Abigail Bazin, Jacob Toner Gosselin, and Rachel Kim | Data analysis by Jacob Toner Gosselin