The Illinois Supreme Court today announced the appointments of Araceli R. De La Cruz and Judge Thomas M. Donnelly as At-Large Circuit Judges in Cook County. 

The Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee will hold a special virtual public hearing via Zoom on February 2, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. to hear testimony on a proposal from the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee (IJEC) to introduce a new Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct.  The Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct proposal, Proposal 21-08, is based on the American Bar Association’s 2007 Model Code of Judicial Conduct and seeks to advance the IJEC’s mission of promoting the highest standards of ethical conduct by judges in Illinois. Thirty-seven states have previously adopted new Codes of Judicial Conduct based on the 2007 Model Code. 

The prevalence of mental illness and co-occurring disorders is greatly impacting our nation, each of our states, and our communities, and has a disproportionate effect on our courts and justice system. As part of a National Initiative, the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators hosted a Midwest Regional Summit in October 2019 in Deadwood, South Dakota. Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne M. Burke and Illinois State Court Administrator Marcia Meis assembled and led an Illinois delegation at the Summit. 

You’ve heard about “implicit bias” and “microagression.” What about “microinvalidations” and “microinsults”? The cover story for December’s Illinois Bar Journal wades into these sensitive terms based on interviews with Dana and Keith Cutler, cohosts of the television show, Couples Court With the Cutlers.