Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans did the right thing — arguably the only responsible thing — by firing law clerk Rhonda Crawford last Friday. The rest of us learned about that Tuesday.
You remember Crawford. She was accused of slipping on a judge’s robe in August and ruling in two traffic cases from the bench in Markham.
But Crawford wasn’t a judge. She was allegedly “job shadowing” Cook County Circuit Judge Valarie Turner, who allowed the pretend judge to preside.
Turner has been reassigned to administrative duties like presiding at weddings and reviewing requests for fee waivers in civil cases. Having displayed awesomely bad judgment, Turner probably shouldn’t again find herself on the banging side of a gavel for a good long time, if ever.
And Crawford? Oh, not to worry about her. She’s out of this $57,000-a-year job. But she’s still a Democratic candidate on the Nov. 8 ballot, running unopposed in the 1st Judicial Subcircuit race. So the freshly fired Crawford can look forward to a major new job and salary bump to $188,000. Which, we imagine, will be ample enough so that Crawford will be able to buy her own robe.
Absurd? Outrageous? Only in famously dysfunctional Cook County?
All of the above.
And barring some unforeseen circumstance, there doesn’t look to be much anyone can do about it.
Once elected, Crawford will join hundreds of other judges in Cook County who are all but impossible to unseat. Judges stand for retention every six years. It’s been 26 years since a sitting judge fell short of the 60 percent “yes” vote required to stay on the bench. Even the most outlandish behavior gets a pass from voters, who often don’t know much about the judges.
Voters who wisely pay attention to Tribune judicial endorsements do know the good judges from the dunces. But less informed voters take their cue from Democratic palm cards and mailers that instruct them to vote for candidates who, like Crawford, may have been rejected as not qualified by local bar associations.
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office has begun a criminal investigation into the Markham fiasco. We imagine the Judicial Inquiry Board, which oversees judges in Illinois, and the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which licenses and disciplines lawyers, may also have something to say about this. Stay tuned for something — eventually.
Evans, though, may face more immediate fallout. He has been chief judge for 15 years. He is elected by his judicial peers. Two of them are seeking to oust him from that perch via internal court elections Sept. 15.
One of those challengers, Thomas Allen, a former Chicago alderman, has called on Evans to explain the Crawford/Turner incident in more detail. We’d sure like to hear that. We’d also like to hear from Crawford or Turner on the question everyone has: What were they thinking?
“We cannot allow the largest unified court system in the country and the judges and lawyers who serve in it to become a laughingstock,” Allen wrote. “We cannot afford to have a pall over the ethics or integrity of our judges and our court system in Cook County after the scandals we faced in the past. It’s up to the Chief Judge to step up and fix this mess now.”
Firing Crawford was a start. But some of what’s wrong with the system — including how difficult it is for voters to fire judges for egregious behavior — is outside Evans’ jurisdiction.
This is the way Cook County’s judicial system works. It’s a job-protection program for sitting judges.
It’s the system that will in all probability welcome Judge Rhonda Crawford to the bench after the November election.
But don’t worry. She’s all warmed up and ready to go.
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