The state of the State

The candidates campaigning for election in November are hard to ignore. Photo ops. Sound bites. Talk shows. Commentary. Political ads. The deluge continues as Bush and Clinton press for the presidency, Williamson and Braun vie for Illinois' U.S. Senate seat, and legislative candidates tromp across the state in new districts. But how many voters can name the five candidates running for the three vacant seats on the Illinois Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court has three of its seven seats open for election in November, and two are contested. Consider one of the issues that the court will decide: funding public education. If the proposed amendment to the education article in the Illinois Constitution is ratified, the court will determine what it means to state funding. If the amendment fails, the issue of education funding will still reach the court via the lawsuit challenging the state's current scheme for funding schools on grounds that it violates the Illinois Constitution.

While Illinois Supreme Court justices are elected for 10-year terms from judicial districts, those boundaries do not change as they do for legislators every 10 years. Yet the candidates run as partisans, nominated in their party primaries, and some predict the possibility of a Republican majority on the court for the first time in decades.

The Supreme Court sets the rules for the entire state court system, the single largest unified system in the world. If citizens seek any improvements in Illinois courts, they must look to the Supreme Court: It writes the rules and administers the system. One rule set by the court itself, however, dampens any attempt for judicial candidates to campaign on substantive issues. (See "Judicial Rulings" on page 31.)

Change has already occurred on the court with the election in 1990 of three new justices: Michael A. Bilandic, Democrat from Chicago and its former mayor, elected from the 1st Judicial District (coterminous with Cook County and elects three of the seven justices); Charles E. Freeman, Democrat, also from Chicago and the 1st District; and James D. Heiple, Republican from Pekin, elected from the 3rd District, which covers 20 counties from Rock Island to Kankakee. They joined the court in December 1990.

The stage was set for more change last year with the death of one justice and the announcement in January by two other justices that they would be retiring rather than serve out the four remaining years of their terms.

Come December, when the newly elected justices will be seated after the November election, the longest-serving justice will be Benjamin K. Miller, Republican from Springfield. He was nominated and elected in hotly contested races in 1984 from the 4th District, which covers 30 counties across central Illinois from Pike to Edgar counties. Miller is also the current chief justice.

In the November election, the 2nd District has only one candidate for the seat representing 12 counties across the northern edge of the state. The unopposed candidate is Appellate Court Justice John L. Nickels, 61, Republican from Maple Park. He was elected to the circuit court in 1982 and has served on the appellate court since 1989. Before becoming a judge, Nickels practiced law for 21 years, covering business and farm law, estate planning and probate and trust work. Retiring from the seat after 26 years is Justice Thomas J. Moran, Republican of Lake Forest.

In the 1st District contest. Appellate Court Justice Mary Ann Grohwin McMorrow, 62, Democrat from Chicago, is running against Robert Chapman Buckley, 68, Republican from Arlington Heights. The winner will fill the seat that Justice William G. Clark, Democrat of Chicago, will leave after 26 years.

McMorrow won the March 17 primary with nearly 30 percent of the vote

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in a field of eight. And observers predict this heavily Democratic district with Chicago as its base will elect McMorrow to become the first woman to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court.

McMorrow has served as an appellate justice since 1985 and as a circuit judge from 1976 to 1985, working in the domestic relations and law divisions of the Cook County Circuit Court. She has also been an assistant Cook County state's attorney, and in private practice she specialized in civil and criminal trials. McMorrow has many "first woman" achievements. She was the only woman in her class at law school, graduating in 1953 from Loyola University; she was the first woman to prosecute major criminal cases in Cook County; and she was the first woman to be elected chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Apepllate Court. The first woman Illinois appellate judge, however, was Blanche M. Manning of Chicago. Justice McMorrow was the second woman elected to the appellate court.

McMorrow says she would like to eliminate abuses in the discovery process, the taking of depositions and revealing this information to opponents. McMorrow also wants to review the extent that lawyers are doing pro bono work for those who cannot afford attorney fees. In addition, she would like to make sure that the legal system is available to the middle class; she believes many may not be poor enough to be eligible for pro bono services yet are unable to afford legal recourse with their own resources.

Buckley, who lost his bid for a seat on the high court in 1990 to Freeman, has been a 1st District appellate court justice since 1978. He served as presiding judge in the first division from 1983 to 1986. He also chaired the Appellate Court Executive Committee in 1989. After graduating with his J.D. from Georgetown University, Buckley was in private practice from 1953 to 1966 and then served six years as a circuit court judge. (Justice Buckley cancelled an interview and was unavailable for comment before going to press.)

In the 5th District, which covers the 35 southernmost counties, Moses W. Harrison Il, 60, Democrat from Caseyville, opposes Don W. Weber, 44, Republican from Edwardsville. The winner fills the seat left vacant by the death last year of Justice Horace L. Calvo, Democrat. (Former Justice Joseph H. Cunningham, Democrat of Belleville, was appointed to serve until the vacancy is filled by the election.)

Some political observers believe that Weber may win in this traditional Democratic district, changing the court's political makeup from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 4-3 Republican majority. Weber himself calls the campaign an "uphill battle," but he has name recognition that judicial candidates often lack. He prosecuted the Paula Sims murder case as Madison County state's attorney and coauthored the bestselling book. Precious Victims, about the case.

Weber believes that the Supreme Court can and should exert a stabilizing influence on situations that he thinks are wrong in the justice system. He says that the rule established by the Supreme Court that allows it to intervene in the lower courts should be used more liberally than it is now. The Supreme Court should intervene, Weber says, when "it's apparent that the local court system is either incapable of handling the situation because there are powerful lawyers who exert so much influence on the court system or because the judges themselves are just flat out corrupt."

In the midst of a hotly contested race, one campaign reform Weber believes is needed is for the Supreme Court to put "reasonable limits" on how much money lawyers can contribute to judges' campaigns. Weber says that if constitutional, it would be simple to limit what judges can accept. "If they can limit what judges can say, they certainly can limit what judges can accept," Weber says.

Justice Harrison has served as a 5th District appellate court justice since 1979, serving two terms as presiding judge. He was elected chairman of the Illinois Appellate Court for one term. Harrison spent six years as a circuit court judge, and he was elected twice by his fellow judges as chief judge of the 3rd Judicial Circuit.

Harrison believes the structure of the Illinois court system is sound, but he would like to make some changes in the administration of the courts. To make "optimum use of judges" Harrison believes that in districts that are not so busy circuit judges could spend a short time serving on the appellate court. Shifting judges to appellate districts that are very busy from circuit courts that are not as busy would be an efficient use of judicial manpower, Harrison says.

Harrison also proposes to use technology more efficiently. He says that depositions taken over the telephone would save clients and the public money by cutting down on lawyers' time and expense, particularly if a deposition needs to be taken out of state. Currently, Harrison says, there is no provision to do this type of court business by telephone. He believes many routine motions could be filed by phone, using electronic facsimiles ("fax" machine copies) to cite cases for arguing a motion before the court.

Harrison would also like to make changes in the rules regarding discovery. "If we had clear rules, it might stop the granting of continuances," says Harrison, "because delays are very expensive, and if one party has a lot more money than the other, then they can use it as a system." Like McMorrow, Harrison believes that more provisions are needed to make affordable legal advice available for working middle-class people; he suggests such services be provided by putting young lawyers in court houses across the state.

There are larger issues, those the candidates are not allowed to discuss while campaigning. Nevertheless, the court's changing makeup of experiences and personalities — and possibly partisan politics — could be farreaching for Illinois. The tendency of the U.S. Supreme Court to shift decisionmaking to the states means a greater test for the Illinois court. "Given the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Illinois Supreme Court will likely see more arguments based upon an independent interpretation of the Illinois Constitution that are not in 'lockstep' with the U.S. Constitution, particularly in the area of individual liberties," says Dennis Rendleman, general counsel of the Illinois State Bar Association.

The five candidates for the three Illinois Supreme Court seats may not be as well-known as others this campaign season, but decisions by the court they seek to join may determine such high profile issues as school funding.

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