People v. Class

The Illinois Supreme Court considered the question of whether an appellate court can sua sponte order that a case be re-assigned to a new circuit judge on remand for reasons other than bias, potential bias, or prejudice. The supreme court found that it cannot and reversed the portion of the appellate court’s judgment directing the presiding judge to assign the case to a new judge finding that there was no basis in the record to conclude that the circuit court would not be able to correct its legal analysis and apply the correct legal standard on remand. (THEIS, OVERSTREET, and HOLDER WHITE, concurring; CUNNINGHAM and O’BRIEN, concurring in part and dissenting in part. NEVILLE took no part in the decision)