With justice for all

"The accused shall have the right. . . to have a speedy public trial. . . ."
(Illinois Constitution, Art. I, sec. 8)

"[Every person] shall obtain justice by law, freely, completely and promptly."
(Illinois Constitution, Art. I, sec. 12)

How speedy can it be? Are things getting better or worse?

The laws

The General Assembly's job is the making of laws, and it has not shirked the job. Illinois Revised Statutes, the most frequently cited source, has increased from three volumes, 6,428 text pages, in 1977 to over four volumes, 9,155 pages, in 1987. The index grew from 1,609 to 1,904 pages. Chapter 38, Criminal Law and Procedure, saw an increase from 171 to 282 pages, while the Code of Civil Procedure, Chapter 110, showed whopping growth from 29 to 149 pages.

The rules

Statewide rules governing the practice of law are established by the Illinois Supreme Court. There were 73 pages in 1977 and 110 pages in 1987. The lower courts have their own rules, too.

Source for above: Illinois Revised Statutes, 1977 and 1987.

The courts

Enforcement of these laws rests in the three-tiered court system, administered by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. Staff of this body increased from 33 in 1978 to 131 in 1988. The appropriation for judicial and related personnel in fiscal year 1979 was $53 million, while the appropriation for judicial salaries in fiscal 1989 was $66 million. This mirrored judicial salary increases as follows:

The workload

To earn this increase the judges generally worked harder. (To handle the increased workload the number of appellate judges grew from 42 in 1978 to 46 in 1988; the number of Supreme Court justices remained at seven.)

Circuit court cases fall into many classes (for example, in Cook County they are identified in 20 categories). The large majority are traffic violations. Each one does not necessarily require the attention of a judge, but in order to "terminate" them they must be processed through the circuit court system. Felonies, probably the most important cases in the mind of the average citizen, make up a small proportion of court activity.

The time

How "speedy" can a trial be? Limits are established by statute, but continuances, permitted for various reasons, tend to make them a bit of a legal fiction. The comparative time for disposition at the appellate level went like this

The bar

The supply of new lawyers admitted to the bar: 2,214 in 1978; 2,555 in 1988.

Sources for 1977-8: Annual Report to the Supreme Court of Illinois, prepared by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts; for 1987-8 the staff of the Administrative Office.

General funds

The general funds balance at the end of December 1988 was $147,858 million, and the average daily balance was $120,276 million.
Source: Office of the Comptroller.

Unemployment rates

In December the nation's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 5.3 percent from 5.4 percent in November. In Illinois it dropped to 6.7 percent from 7.1 percent.

There were 5.822 million people in the state's labor force; 5.488 million had jobs, second only to November's all-time record, and 394,000 were looking for work. Unemployment dropped because of seasonal hiring in retail stores, transportation industries and the U.S. post office. But seasonal fall-offs in construction, mining, farming and educational services meant there was a drop in the number of people employed.

The nation's average unemployment rate in 1988 was 5.5 percent, down from 6.2 percent in 1987. Illinois' average unemployment rate was 6.8 percent, down from 7.4 percent in 1987.

Final October unemployment rates in the state's major cities were:

Aurora-Elgin: 4.5 percent.
Bloomington-Normal: 4.1 percent.
Champaign-Urbana-Rantoul: 3.7 percent.
Chicago: 5.7 percent.
Davenport, Rock Island, Moline (Illinois sector): 7.7 percent.
Decatur: 9.0 percent.
Joliet: 6.3 percent.
Kankakee: 8.1 percent.
Lake County: 3.7 percent.
Peoria: 6.2 percent.
Rockford: 6.3 percent.
Springfield: 4.8 percent.
St. Louis (Illinois sector): 8.2 percent.
Source: Department of Employment Security.

F. Mark Siebert

February 1989 | Illinois Issues | 3