Posted on 02/20/2009 6:29:17 PM PST by elkfersupper
She quietly pleaded guilty to drunken driving and was sentenced on the day President Obama was inaugurated.
But it may be another two years before Cook County Judge Sheila McGinnis is disciplined by the authorities who oversee Illinois judges - if they discipline her, according to the executive director of the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board.
McGinnis on Tuesday dodged a potential one-year jail term when she admitted drunkenly crashing her Chevrolet sport utility vehicle into the back of a family-of-four's minivan May 9 in Tinley Park.
With the attention of the Southland and the world focused on Washington, D.C., Judge Edward Burmila fined McGinnis $1,000, ordered her to complete an 18-month probation stint, to attend counseling and to attend a victim impact panel during a brief hearing at the Markham courthouse.
The sentence was normal for a first-time offender, Burmila said.
But McGinnis, a cousin of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, continues to draw a $150,000 judge's salary from the county. She was transferred from a criminal courtroom to administrative duties at the Daley Center after her arrest last summer.
Secrecy governs the process by which judges are disciplined in Illinois, meaning the JIB cannot reveal if an official complaint has been made against McGinnis in her role as a judge, JIB executive director Kathy Twine said.
The board has the power to refer judges' cases to the Illinois Court Commission, which can censure, suspend or dismiss judges.
A SouthtownStar survey of Illinois Court Commission records shows that not one of the eight Illinois judges investigated for DUIs since 1973 has been removed from the bench for even one day.
Seven of the drunken-driving judges were reprimanded.
Just one, Robert D. Law, who allegedly was involved in three drunken-driving incidents, was censured, in 1974.
Twine declined to say how long it would take for McGinnis' case to be dealt with, or even if a complaint has been made, but she added, "some cases take a year, or two years - it depends on the circumstances."
Asked if a DUI case could take two years, Twine said, "it depends on the circumstances."
Raymond McGury, one of six members of the JIB who will rule on McGinnis' case if a complaint is made, said he would "not expect" a DUI to result in a judge's dismissal.
He was not familiar with McGinnis' case and could not comment on it directly, he said.
McGinnis first indicated on Nov. 14 that she would plead guilty. It was her fifth appearance in court on the DUI charge, just 10 days after voters retained her in the Nov. 4 election.
She refused a Breathalyzer test at the scene of the accident and was still trying to leave when police arrived, prosecutors said.
After her conviction Tuesday, she dodged a waiting press photographer at the Markham courthouse by using a rear exit reserved for judges and police.
Her attorney, Jeff Aprati, said he had "no idea" the Jan. 20 court date would coincide with Obama's inauguration when he requested the date Nov. 14.
McGinnis is "an excellent judge" who is "absolutely morally qualified" to remain on the bench, he said.
In 20 years of defending misdemeanor DUI cases, he had never encountered a drunken driver who lost his or her job because of a conviction, he said.
He added, "except for maybe a truck driver who needed his license."
McGinnis has legally been allowed to drive since having her license restored in December.
A corrupt judge in Chicago? Who’da thought?
Forgot this:
“...McGinnis is “an excellent judge” who is “absolutely morally qualified” to remain on the bench, he said....”
Translation, she’s corrupt, but she’s a democrat.
Let me be the first to call B.S.
“a cousin of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley,........”
The family she hit will sue the forkin pants off her.
I’m surprised she wasn’t given a promotion.
Try living in this sh**hole State for a year. You’ll be buying tar and feather futures like there’s no tomorrow.
Once you are a black-robed gangster, there really is no promotion - only increased scrutiny.
The proper application of tar and feathers requires a mob of like and right-minded individuals.
I don't know where to find that mob in today's USA.
Which is what, a stern talking to??? What the hell is a "censure"???? Throw the criminals in jail.
Did anyone watch the HBO series John Adams?? The scene in there with the tarring and feathering put a smile on my face. I could think of quite a few people who need this treatment.
If you're any sort of high-level government employee, it means that your co-workers say "Don't get caught doing that again."
These drunk drivers who have such a casual attitude about their antics tend to make me think something along the lines of “hope no innocent person gets hurt as a result of your irresponsibility”; but if there has to be an accident because of these jerks, I sincerely hope it’s a one-vehicle accident involving just the driver.”
The reason I posted this is that there is a judge sentencing other people to jail for driving around with alcohol on their breath who got caught in the same nonsensical trap.
And in typical Chicago fashion, some judge will throw it out on a technicality.
I’m curious what kind of penalties ordinary people get who appear before these Chicago judges on DUI charges.
Drunk is where the blood alcohol level is at a standard above legal. Generally, the person doesn’t even get stopped unless they’re driving erratically or obviously drunk. - We need to just drink Cokes during the day and wait until we get home where we don’t plan on driving to have alcohol. . and even then, we don’t need, logically speaking, to drink like a fish as we might have to drive someone to the hospital and not have the judgment to call an ambulance if we’re impaired. Having alcohol on your breath surely isn’t grounds for a fine or jail time unless there’s a breathalizer test to measure blood alcohol levels.
And yes, some way to measure has to be used, sadly.
Sounds like a porno flick.
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