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Commentary, Elections, Local, Opinion, Park Forest, Politics

Bar Associations Say Don’t Vote for These Judges

by Gary Kopycinski on June 23, 2022

Gary Kopycinski Author

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Justice gavel by Tori Rector — “Justice Gavel”by Tori Rector is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- As we have in the past, we share information on which judges to vote for and which to NOT vote for in Cook County. Our information comes directly from VoteForJudges.org. Vote for Judges gathers information from the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening (referred to hereafter as “Alliance”).

Primary Election Day is Tuesday, June 28, 2022. The General Election will be November 8, 2022.

Through the years, we have heard, and agree, that members of the public are least informed on the performance of judges.

The Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening is comprised of the following bar associations:

AABAR: Arab American Bar Association
AABA: Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area
BWLA: Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago
CCL: Chicago Council of Lawyers
CCBA: Cook County Bar Association
DSL: Decalogue Society of Lawyers
HBA: Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois
HLAI: Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois
ISBA: Illinois State Bar Association
LAGBAC: Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association
PRBA: Puerto Rican Bar Association
WBAI: Women’s Bar Association of Illinois

The Alliance of Bar Associations works collaboratively to screen judicial candidates in Cook County. Judicial candidates are rated by the Alliance members based on detailed information supplied by each candidate, a background check by trained lawyers/investigators, and interviews of each candidate.

The ratings reflect the Alliance’s opinion of whether candidates have the necessary qualifications for judicial service or ascension to a higher office and are not a reflection of the candidates’ abilities as lawyers or judges.

The ratings key follows:

HQ	Highly Qualified
WQ	Well Qualified
Q	Qualified
NQ	Not Qualified
HR	Highly Recommended
R	Recommended
NR	Not Recommended
1	Not Evaluated Through No Fault of the Candidate

Candidates who do not participate in the Alliance’s evaluation process are rated “NR”.

If you’re seeking a short list, these candidates are rated Not Qualified or Not Recommended by at least one bar association and you should NOT vote for them. Either they are not qualified for office or did not bother to fill out forms and submit to a background check and interview by one or more bar associations. Either way, they should NOT receive your vote in this primary election.