Posted on 08/27/2016 6:25:03 AM PDT by KeyLargo
Responses come in to Supreme Court's decision to block voters' opinion on remapping
SPRINGFIELD - Friday, Illinois lawmakers from all over the state expressed their dismay with the Illinois Supreme Court Democrat majority's decision to block voters from expressing their opinion on a proposed November referendum.
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) released the following statement Friday:
Illinois residents, as Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert Thomas writes, have had their voices ‘muzzled’ after the Illinois Supreme Court ruled yesterday that only politicians, and not the people, have the power to draw legislative district maps.
We cannot disenfranchise the will of 600,000 Illinois residents who supported and signed a petition to put a Fair Map Amendment on the ballot so that they, the people of this great State, have the power to draw legislative district maps.
In response to this decision, Senate Republicans will be exploring other options to ensure the people of Illinois have their voice heard. The legislature must act.
State Senator Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) called on his colleagues to find another path to giving the voters a voice on the topic
The Illinois Supreme Court decided to block the voters’ opportunity to have a say on the Independent Map Amendment. With this being the final decision, I call on my fellow legislators in the General Assembly to explore other options. Hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans signed a petition to make the process of drawing legislative districts less political. The General Assembly has a duty to uphold the democratic process and give the people a voice on this matter.
State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) said 500 thousand petitioners signers should not be ignored:
I have long believed that Illinois needs a better, more fair system to draw its legislative districts.
(Excerpt) Read more at illinoisreview.typepad.com ...
On to the substance of this article, meh, I’m not too upset. We’ve seen what “fair redistricting” had done in AZ and CA. In CA it was better for the dems than maps drawn by the dem leg because the independent commission was able to maximize rat seats thanks to ignoring the need to protect a few incumbent rats.
The IL commission would have been chosen in the following way according to Ballotpedia.com.
An 11 member commission
3 people chosen from a “random pool of names” by the State Auditor General (a shadowy position appointed by the General Assembly, the post may be more powerful than the elected positions of Comptroller and Treasurer, and most people don’t know it exits) would appoint 7 members of the commission from “a different random pool of 100 registered Illinois voters”.
You know what this reminds me of? The way they chose the DOGE OF VENICE back in the day. WTH!
The remaining 4 members would be elected by the General Assembly.
Raise your hand if you think this commission would have been likely to lead to more Republican seats. My hand is down.
Bill, I agree with everything that you said about AG Madigan.
I was paid to get signatures for that amendment. I read the amendment, and I think that about half of the commission members would be Republicans. I think the new maps would usually be better for Republicans, compared to the 2011 maps and the 2001 maps.
They can and usually are worse. “Independent” boards for larger states almost always screw Republicans.
instead of the ag spot daddy shoulda just bought her a pony
Are judges subject to retention and can they be recalled in Illinois? It can be done in other states.
Illinois is one of I believe only seven or so states that directly elect all our judges through partisan general elections just like all the other candidates. All the justices on the Illinois Supreme Court had to win their party's primary and then win a November general election.
The justices are elected for 10 year terms and may serve an unlimited number of terms (Justice Charles E. Freeman of Chicago was first elected in 1990 and is now on his third term)
The obsolete judicial districts were put in place in 1970. We have four downstate districts and 3 cook county-at-large districts. (The "at large" part ensures Chicago gets whoever they want for those seats and the 2.5 million residents of suburban cook county, like myself, get no representation on the court).
The court currently has a 4-3 Democrat majority. It would be a 4-3 Republican majority, but Madigan dropped a ton of money on one of the downstate races a while back and justice Thomas K. Kilbride managed to eek to victory downstate. I believe he's up for re-election soon. The IL GOP SHOULD be working on a top-tier challenger, but good luck getting them to get their act together.
Ironically, I would describe the Illinois Supreme Court as the most conservative of the three branches of government, and that includes AFTER "Republican" Rauner won election as Governor. We've gotten some pretty good decisions from the Illinois SC in recent years (upholding parental consent laws, etc.), although cases like this tend to screw us over because the RATS will vote as a bloc on political matters that benefit the RAT party statewide.
Friday, September 09, 2016
Report: Illinois personal injury lawyers tip justice scales with $35M to candidates
METRO-EAST - A new study released jointly from grassroots legal watchdog group Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch (I-LAW) and the Illinois Civil Justice League (ICJL) shows that Illinois personal injury attorneys invested over $35 million into legislative and judicial candidates over the past 15 years.
The study, titled “Justice for Sale,” details the staggering sums personal injury lawyers have lavished on judges and legislators in an apparent attempt to stack the deck in their favor and block lawsuit reform efforts, the groups say.
“We now have 35 million reasons why Illinois continues to attract lawsuits and personal injury lawyers from all over the country while as a result shedding jobs to neighboring states,” said Travis Akin, Executive Director of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch. “This new study proves that personal injury lawyers are gaming the system to their advantage by funneling millions of dollars in campaign contributions to Illinois judges, who continue to allow junk lawsuits that have nothing to do with Illinois to move forward here, prompting the question, ‘Is justice for sale in Illinois?’”
http://www.illinoisreview.typepad.com/
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