Editor's note: Your ProbateShark congratulates Judge Evans on his re-election as chief judge. We Sharks feel that the removal of Judge Kawamoto was a "right step" in the reformation of the Probate Division of Cook County, however much more correction is required.
An graphic example of the correction required is illustrated in the Estate of Alice R. Gore, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County. After all of Alice's money was used up, somebody in the Probate Court must have ordered the nursing home to terminate Alice's life by deprivation. Since Alice's family took on financial responsibility of burying Alice, the family viewed a starved and dehydrated body who had most of her teeth extracted and all of her dental gold missing. For all practical purposes Alice R. Gore was a victim of "Elder Cleansing" and was of no further use financially to the Probate Court or the "Judicial-Nursing Home Complex".
Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
http://probateshark.blogspot.com/2013/09/evans-elected-to-fifth-term-as-chief.html
An graphic example of the correction required is illustrated in the Estate of Alice R. Gore, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County. After all of Alice's money was used up, somebody in the Probate Court must have ordered the nursing home to terminate Alice's life by deprivation. Since Alice's family took on financial responsibility of burying Alice, the family viewed a starved and dehydrated body who had most of her teeth extracted and all of her dental gold missing. For all practical purposes Alice R. Gore was a victim of "Elder Cleansing" and was of no further use financially to the Probate Court or the "Judicial-Nursing Home Complex".
Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Editorial: Illinois Supreme Court, help Cook County
Backlog of cases, jail overcrowding cheat defendants, crime victims and taxpayers
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle presides over board meeting in Chicago. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune / September 4, 2013)
|
When a backlog of criminal cases accumulated in New York City, court officials put a bulldog in charge: State Supreme Court Justice Patricia DiMango. In less than a year, she has turned a sluggish system into a fair but efficient assembly line of justice, disposing of hundreds of cases that had lingered in Bronx courts for two years or more.
That's precisely the outcome Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle hopes to achieve in her latest effort to reduce the case backlog in Cook County. Impatient with Chief Judge Timothy Evans' hands-off approach to a slow-moving court system, Preckwinkle in a Sept. 12 letter to the Illinois Supreme Court asks for help:
"During my tenure, I have been disheartened to discover that our County's administration of justice is not in accordance with the standards the residents of the State of Illinois both deserve and are entitled to under the law," she writes. "In many aspects, Cook County is far behind many of our sister counties in the administration of court services."
Specifically, she wants the Supreme Court to assign a judge from outside Cook County to help clear the backlog of criminal cases, some of which have been meandering through the system for years. Preckwinkle also wants a member of the Supreme Court to oversee a commission that would make recommendations toward long-term solutions.
Cook County's case backlog and dangerously overcrowded jail aren't new problems. What is new is a County Board president taking an evidence-based step to involve the Supreme Court, which holds administrative and supervisory authority over Cook County's courts.
The Supreme Court hasn't said whether it will intervene. We hope it does.
As we outlined in an Aug. 29 editorial ("Judge Evans, be an enforcer"), Evans, who has served as chief judge since 2001, hasn't made the case backlog a priority:
The chief judge has made some creative reforms and has generally sound priorities. But what's sorely missing is a sense of urgency. He needs to be the enforcer on his judges; his judges need to be the enforcers in their courtrooms. For starters, those judges all need to put in a full day's work.
Evans doesn't lean on his judges to be more efficient. He prefers to let justice unfold at its own pace and blames prosecutors and defense attorneys for delaying cases.
That laissez faire leadership style is unfair to defendants, crime victims and taxpayers.
Evans also blames budgetary restraints for his slow-moving system. But as Preckwinkle points out in her letter to the Supreme Court, the assignment of five additional judges to the criminal courts hasn't reduced the backlog. Money won't solve this problem.
It's time for more aggressive action. That means Supreme Court intervention — and soon.
Evans might want to write off Preckwinkle's criticism as politically motivated. Their friction goes way back. When Evans served as a Chicago alderman, Preckwinkle ran against him three times and beat him in 1991.
But that's irrelevant. The statistical record on jail population and caseload inefficiency speaks for itself. More than 300 jail inmates have been waiting at least five years for their cases to conclude, according to Sheriff Tom Dart. Thousands more have been in jail for six months to five years while their cases lollygag through Evans' system. From 2007 to 2011, the jail served an average of 1,246 more inmates per day than in the previous five years. That costs taxpayers, as Preckwinkle often says, $143 per inmate each day.
We appreciate Preckwinkle's outreach to the Supreme Court. It's risky to stick your nose into a fellow elected official's jurisdiction. Most politicians are content to look away: It's his court. It's his system.
But this issue is too important to ignore.
Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court: Use your authority to appoint an outside judge. And please, choose a bulldog. Justice delayed is, yes, justice denied.
That's precisely the outcome Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle hopes to achieve in her latest effort to reduce the case backlog in Cook County. Impatient with Chief Judge Timothy Evans' hands-off approach to a slow-moving court system, Preckwinkle in a Sept. 12 letter to the Illinois Supreme Court asks for help:
"During my tenure, I have been disheartened to discover that our County's administration of justice is not in accordance with the standards the residents of the State of Illinois both deserve and are entitled to under the law," she writes. "In many aspects, Cook County is far behind many of our sister counties in the administration of court services."
Specifically, she wants the Supreme Court to assign a judge from outside Cook County to help clear the backlog of criminal cases, some of which have been meandering through the system for years. Preckwinkle also wants a member of the Supreme Court to oversee a commission that would make recommendations toward long-term solutions.
Cook County's case backlog and dangerously overcrowded jail aren't new problems. What is new is a County Board president taking an evidence-based step to involve the Supreme Court, which holds administrative and supervisory authority over Cook County's courts.
The Supreme Court hasn't said whether it will intervene. We hope it does.
As we outlined in an Aug. 29 editorial ("Judge Evans, be an enforcer"), Evans, who has served as chief judge since 2001, hasn't made the case backlog a priority:
The chief judge has made some creative reforms and has generally sound priorities. But what's sorely missing is a sense of urgency. He needs to be the enforcer on his judges; his judges need to be the enforcers in their courtrooms. For starters, those judges all need to put in a full day's work.
Evans doesn't lean on his judges to be more efficient. He prefers to let justice unfold at its own pace and blames prosecutors and defense attorneys for delaying cases.
That laissez faire leadership style is unfair to defendants, crime victims and taxpayers.
Evans also blames budgetary restraints for his slow-moving system. But as Preckwinkle points out in her letter to the Supreme Court, the assignment of five additional judges to the criminal courts hasn't reduced the backlog. Money won't solve this problem.
It's time for more aggressive action. That means Supreme Court intervention — and soon.
Evans might want to write off Preckwinkle's criticism as politically motivated. Their friction goes way back. When Evans served as a Chicago alderman, Preckwinkle ran against him three times and beat him in 1991.
But that's irrelevant. The statistical record on jail population and caseload inefficiency speaks for itself. More than 300 jail inmates have been waiting at least five years for their cases to conclude, according to Sheriff Tom Dart. Thousands more have been in jail for six months to five years while their cases lollygag through Evans' system. From 2007 to 2011, the jail served an average of 1,246 more inmates per day than in the previous five years. That costs taxpayers, as Preckwinkle often says, $143 per inmate each day.
We appreciate Preckwinkle's outreach to the Supreme Court. It's risky to stick your nose into a fellow elected official's jurisdiction. Most politicians are content to look away: It's his court. It's his system.
But this issue is too important to ignore.
Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court: Use your authority to appoint an outside judge. And please, choose a bulldog. Justice delayed is, yes, justice denied.
http://probateshark.blogspot.com/2013/09/evans-elected-to-fifth-term-as-chief.html
Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans recently was elected to a fifth term as chief judge by an overwhelming majority of circuit judges. His new three-year term will begin December 2, 2013. The results were announced by Judge Raymond L. Jagielski , chair of the Judicial Election Committee, who said Evans ran for re-election unopposed. Other committee members included: Judge Mary Ellen Coghlan, Judge Lynn M. Egan, Judge Marya Nega, Judge Leida J. Gonzalez Santiago, Judge Jane Louise Stuart, Judge Shelley Sutker-Dermer, and Judge E. Kenneth Wright, Jr.
According to Jagielski, Evans received 232 votes of 239 votes – seven were deemed spoiled. Evans is responsible for the operation of circuit court’s 10 divisions and six geographic districts, which has an annual budget of $135 million. There are 14 non-judicial offices including probation and other court-related services.
Evans serves as the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the largest of the 23 judicial circuits in Illinois and also one of the largest unified court systems in the world. More than 1.5 million cases are filed annually in the Circuit Court of Cook County, which serves Cook County=s 5.1 million residents.
Evans, the first African American chief judge, was elected in 2001 with a unanimous vote, and has been re-elected for successive three-years terms since then. He is the fourth chief judge in the court’s history. He is credited with bringing innovative and compassionate changes to the court, including changes to the bail setting process, a new domestic violence courthouse, and court-wide divisions that hear only domestic violence and elder law matters. He also has expanded the use of treatment courts to deal with mental health treatment. Only the fourth person to serve as Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, he also is the first African American to serve in the position.
During his tenure as Chief Judge, Evans has brought sweeping reforms to the court that are both innovative and compassionate. His efforts include critical changes to the bail setting process, a new Domestic Violence Courthouse, and the creation of the two court-wide divisions dedicated to hearing only domestic violence matters and elder law matters, he also has significantly expanded the use of specialty/treatment courts dedicated to mental health treatment, veterans support, drug treatment, and support to persons charged with prostitution.
During Evans’ tenure, according to court officials, there has been an unparalleled growth in free legal services for low-income, self-represented litigants, including a free mediation program to help homeowners facing foreclosure. Also, the court’s national reputation for its highly effective alternatives to incarceration for young people in trouble continues to grow.
Evans also has expanded court services to children with innovative drop-off child care that provides a safe, court-based haven for children whose parents or guardians are attending court.
Throughout his career, Chief Judge Evans has been an outspoken voice for equal opportunities for women and minorities. At the court’s executive level, in particular, he has championed excellence and diversity. He has appointed 14 of the 17 division and district presiding judges, and half of those appointments have been women, minorities, or both.
Evans is a 1965 graduate of the University of Illinois. He received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, in 1969.
Upon graduation from John Marshall, Chief Judge Evans entered local city government in 1969 when he joined the City of Chicago’s Law Department as an assistant corporation counsel. He later joined the city’s Department of Investigations, rising to deputy commissioner. In 1973, he was elected to the Chicago City Council representing the 4th Ward, a position he held for 18 years while maintaining a private practice.
With the election of Harold Washington as mayor of Chicago in 1983, Evans became the city council floor leader. He also chaired several major city council committees, among them finance, budget and health.
In 1992, Evans won election to the Cook County judiciary as a circuit judge. Within three years of joining the court, he was appointed the presiding judge of the Domestic Relations Division. Five years later in 2000, he was appointed presiding judge of the Law Division where he served until his election as Chief Judge.
He has been honored with dozens of distinguished service and humanitarian awards, and has had academic scholarships established in his name. In 2009, he became the first judge from Illinois to receive the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence from the National Center for State Courts. The award is one of the most prestigious judicial honors in the country and has been presented annually since 1996 by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
In January 2010, he was named by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin as one of the “10 Attorneys Who Raised The Bar Over the Last Decade.”
According to Jagielski, Evans received 232 votes of 239 votes – seven were deemed spoiled. Evans is responsible for the operation of circuit court’s 10 divisions and six geographic districts, which has an annual budget of $135 million. There are 14 non-judicial offices including probation and other court-related services.
Evans serves as the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the largest of the 23 judicial circuits in Illinois and also one of the largest unified court systems in the world. More than 1.5 million cases are filed annually in the Circuit Court of Cook County, which serves Cook County=s 5.1 million residents.
Evans, the first African American chief judge, was elected in 2001 with a unanimous vote, and has been re-elected for successive three-years terms since then. He is the fourth chief judge in the court’s history. He is credited with bringing innovative and compassionate changes to the court, including changes to the bail setting process, a new domestic violence courthouse, and court-wide divisions that hear only domestic violence and elder law matters. He also has expanded the use of treatment courts to deal with mental health treatment. Only the fourth person to serve as Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, he also is the first African American to serve in the position.
During his tenure as Chief Judge, Evans has brought sweeping reforms to the court that are both innovative and compassionate. His efforts include critical changes to the bail setting process, a new Domestic Violence Courthouse, and the creation of the two court-wide divisions dedicated to hearing only domestic violence matters and elder law matters, he also has significantly expanded the use of specialty/treatment courts dedicated to mental health treatment, veterans support, drug treatment, and support to persons charged with prostitution.
During Evans’ tenure, according to court officials, there has been an unparalleled growth in free legal services for low-income, self-represented litigants, including a free mediation program to help homeowners facing foreclosure. Also, the court’s national reputation for its highly effective alternatives to incarceration for young people in trouble continues to grow.
Evans also has expanded court services to children with innovative drop-off child care that provides a safe, court-based haven for children whose parents or guardians are attending court.
Throughout his career, Chief Judge Evans has been an outspoken voice for equal opportunities for women and minorities. At the court’s executive level, in particular, he has championed excellence and diversity. He has appointed 14 of the 17 division and district presiding judges, and half of those appointments have been women, minorities, or both.
Evans is a 1965 graduate of the University of Illinois. He received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, in 1969.
Upon graduation from John Marshall, Chief Judge Evans entered local city government in 1969 when he joined the City of Chicago’s Law Department as an assistant corporation counsel. He later joined the city’s Department of Investigations, rising to deputy commissioner. In 1973, he was elected to the Chicago City Council representing the 4th Ward, a position he held for 18 years while maintaining a private practice.
With the election of Harold Washington as mayor of Chicago in 1983, Evans became the city council floor leader. He also chaired several major city council committees, among them finance, budget and health.
In 1992, Evans won election to the Cook County judiciary as a circuit judge. Within three years of joining the court, he was appointed the presiding judge of the Domestic Relations Division. Five years later in 2000, he was appointed presiding judge of the Law Division where he served until his election as Chief Judge.
He has been honored with dozens of distinguished service and humanitarian awards, and has had academic scholarships established in his name. In 2009, he became the first judge from Illinois to receive the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence from the National Center for State Courts. The award is one of the most prestigious judicial honors in the country and has been presented annually since 1996 by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
In January 2010, he was named by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin as one of the “10 Attorneys Who Raised The Bar Over the Last Decade.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting.
Your comment will be held for approval by the blog owner.