All candidates for judicial vacancies and retention in Illinois on the November general election ballot have been rated by the Illinois State Bar Association, either through the evaluation process or by polling lawyers who have knowledge of the candidates.

The Committee on Judicial Evaluations rates all judicial candidates in Cook County as part of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening.

The 10 bar associations in the Alliance, headed by the ISBA, come together to investigate and interview candidates for the bench. Then each group determines and publicizes its own ratings.

ISBA President-elect Joseph G. Bisceglia explained the importance of the Cook County election and retention evaluation processes during a news conference Oct. 5 in the Chicago Regional Office (see photo on page 3).

Bisceglia said he expects the ratings by associations in the Alliance, when they are reported by the news media, to have “a discernible impact” on results for judicial election candidates.

Outside Cook County, the ISBA committee engages in the same investigation and interview process for Appellate and Supreme Court candidates.

All other judicial vacancy and retention candidates are included in the ISBA Judicial Advisory Poll, which complies opinions of lawyers who are familiar with those seeking judicial offices.

ISBA members are urged to check the ratings in their circuits and districts, and to mention the findings to friends and colleagues who need information about the candidates. The ratings are on an open portion of the ISBA home page, available to everyone.

The ISBA also is joining with the four candidates in contested races for the Appellate Court in an effort to ensure that their campaigns uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary.

All four candidates have signed pledges, at the ISBA's request, regarding judicial campaign advertising.

Among other things, the pledge states that candidates will not comment on pending court cases, and “will publicly disavow advertisements that impugn the dignity, integrity, or independence of a candidate … or which erode public trust and confidence” in the judiciary.

A nine-member ISBA Committee on Supreme and Appellate Court Election Campaign Tone and Conduct will review complaints about campaign messages that adversely affect the reputation or integrity of the courts.

The committee includes its chair, Thomas S. Johnson of Rockford; vice chair Thomas A. Clancy, an ISBA past president from Chicago, and retired Supreme Court justices John L. Nickels of Maple Park and Mary Ann G. McMorrow of Chicago.

Other members are Robert P. Cummins, Chicago; U.S. Magistrate John A. Gorman, Peoria; Mary Lee Leahy, Springfield; SIU Law Prof. Paul E. McGreal, Carbondale, and Mary H. Schaafsma, Chicago.