THE U.S. Supreme Court agreed with a federal district court, Northern Illinois, decision that the Illinois constitutional provision requiring that a judge running for retention must receive three-fifths of the vote in order to retain his judgeship is not in violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Ripon Society, Inc., v. National Republican Party, decided February 23, 1976
The Republican Party decided to allocate 72 per cent of its delegates for its 1976 national convention among states according to the states' electoral college votes and to give bonus delegates to states with recent records of getting Republicans elected. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the formula which the appellate court had decided did not violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
The opinion of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia was the "The Equal Protection Clause does not impose the same one person, one vote rule on all elected and decision-making bodies.... National political parties may validly conclude that the public and private interests in the decisions made at presidential nominating conventions, whose membership is selected through a scheme other than that of one person, one vote, outweigh the interests served by numerically equal apportionment."
Marriage court
MACON COUNTY has created a marriage
court under Supreme Court Rule 40 and
joins approximately 20 other Illinois counties where marriage courts have been
established in the last three years under
Supreme Court Rule 40, according to Roy
O. Gulley, director of the administrative
office of Illinois courts.
Judges are empowered to perform marriages but prohibited from receiving outside income — even cigars, Gulley said. The new marriage courts allow judges to perform wedding ceremonies but with the $10 fee paid to the court not the judge. The fees go directly to a trust fund which is administered in each county with a marriage court by three trustees, including the chief judge of the judicial circuit, the administrative secretary of the chief judge and one other circuit judge designated by the chief judge. The trust funds may be spent only for items like judicial robes and library books, according to Gulley, and at the end of a year any balance in the fund goes to the county general fund.
Appointments
Rep. John A. D'Arco (D., Chicago) on
March 2 to the Senate to fill the 20th district
seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Sam
Romano; and Marco Domico, Chicago
Democrat, on March 4 to the House of
Representatives to fill the seat left by
D'Arco. Legislative vacancies are filled by
appointment made by the legislative district
committee of the party with which the
former member was affiliated.
Judge George N. Leighton of Chicago to the U.S. District Court, Northern Illinois, effective February 26. The 63-year-old Democrat was suggested by U.S. Sen. Charles Percy (R) and nominated by President Ford on December 20. Leighton had served in the Appellate Court of the first district since 1969 and also spent 4½ years as a Cook County Circuit Court judge. He succeeds Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz who retired in August.
Robert S. Glade, Kankakee, as chairman of the Capital Development Board by Gov. Walker in February. He replaces Louis R. Silverman who resigned in December. The appointment requires Senate confirmation.
Paul B. Hanks, Hardin, to the Illinois Community College Board by the governor in February. Hanks, former chairman of the Lewis and Clark Community College Board of Trustees, replaces Rey Brune who resigned in November. The appointment, which expires on June 30, 1981, needs Senate approval.
A.T. Tsoumas, Chicago, as director of the Department of Financial Institutions by the governor in February. He replaces Timothy Griffin, Savings and Loan commissioner, who was serving as acting director. Tsoumas, 63, is president and board chairman of Permacold Industries, Inc.
John P. Davis, Skokie; Mrs. Rose Wilson, Tinley Park, and Mrs. Cathy Condon, Urbana, as representatives of the handicapped to the Board of Vocational Education and Rehabilitation by the governor in January pending Senate approval.
Anthony Sorrentino, administrator of community services in the Department of Corrections, as acting executive director of the Illinois Delinquency Prevention Commission by the governor in January.
Thomas F. Slattery, Chicago, as assistant director for the Department of Business and Economic Development for the Division of International Trade by department director Joseph Pisciotte in February. John Gallo, Chicago, will replace Slattery as managing director of the Office of International Marketing.
Former Supreme Court Justice Marvin F. Burt, Freeport, as special assistant attorney by Atty. Gen. William J. Scott on March 4. He will head an investigation to determine whether a civil recovery suit regarding Secretary of State Michael Howlett's former position with Sun Steel Co. has a legal basis. Burt, who served on the Supreme Court from October 1969 to December 1970, replaces the late Chief Justice Charles Davis in the investigation.
Gene Leonard, Bremen Township assessor, to the Regional Transportation Authority Board by the suburban members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners effective February 11. He fills the unexpired term of Joseph Tecson who was appointed to the Cook County Board.
Ronald D. Michaelson, Springfield, as executive director of the State Board of Elections, and Daniel Hagan, Springfield, as chief election clerk, by the board in March. Michaelson had been the agency's director of administration since September 1974. He was formerly an aide to Gov. Richard Ogilvie and a faculty member at Sangamon State University. Hagan, who replaces Jayne Price, has been with the board for the past year and previously served on the House Democratic appropriations staff.
James T. Mooney as associate director of research of the Illinois Legislative Council on January 14. He was deputy director for legal research and has worked for the council for 22 years.
Robert Rogers, Springfield, from chief of the legal opinions division for the attorney general to associate counsel for Comptroller George W. Lindberg effective February 16.
Jim Finley, Springfield, as analyst for the Bureau of the Budget, effective April 1. He was deputy director of the House Republican Appropriations Committee, division 2, and Terry Bedgood, the committee's criminal justice analyst, was named Finley's replacement on February 15.
Richard E. Dahlberg, Northern Illinois University, as chairman of the newly formed Illinois Mapping Advisory Committee (IMAC) by representatives from various
Continued on back cover.
May 1976 / Illinois Issues / 29