Board closes complaints over perceived conflicts of Illinois Supreme Court justices

[July 27, 2023]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Complaints to the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board over perceived conflicts of interest by two Illinois Supreme Court justices are being closed.

Last year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave $1 million each to two then-Supreme Court Justice candidates, Elizabeth Rochford and Mary O’Brien. They won their seats on the high court and later refused to recuse themselves in a challenge of Illinois’ gun ban, legislation Pritzker signed.

Justices Rochford and O’Brien were also on the bench and part of the majority decision in the case challenging the Pretrial Fairness Act that upheld no-cash bail, another law Pritzker signed.

In March, Kenneth Mayle, an electrical engineer living in Chicago, filed a complaint with the Judicial Inquiry Board, a panel of members appointed by the governor and the Supreme Court to oversee the judiciary.

“It just didn’t sound right what’s going on, and I found there’s a process to file complaints, so I did so feeling like you can’t have the governor essentially giving justices money for their campaigns … and being essentially the defendant on something they're ruling,” Mayle told The Center Square. “There’s conflict of interest there.”

The JIB is created by the Illinois Constitution to “receive or initiate complaints concerning a Judge or Associate Judge, and file complaints with the Court Commission” and “to charge the Judge or Associate Judge with willful misconduct in office, persistent failure to perform his duties, or other conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice or that brings the judicial office into disrepute.”

A letter Mayle received back dated May 15 closed his complaint.

“The Judicial Inquiry Board … has concluded its review of the allegations detailed in your complaints against Illinois state court judges and has determined to close the matter,” the letter said. ”The Board’s determination to close the complaints is in no way an opinion as to the merits of the court case.”

The exterior of the Illinois Supreme Court in Springfield - Greg Bishop / The Center Square

Mayle said other than the letter acknowledging receipt of the complaint and the letter closing the complaint, there was no other communication from the JIB.

“That’s pretty tight lipped that there was really no explanation,” Mayle said. “It was disheartening. If you can’t complain to a regulatory body, where else can you go?”

Separate letters with similar language from the JIB closing such complaints are circulating online.

In March, when asked about his million-dollar donation to each of the two then-candidates who eventually won their election, Pritzker downplayed concerns.

“These are independent judges and they didn’t go around and campaign on things that they thought would win my support for them,” Pritzker said.

The governor’s response is unrealistic, Mayle said.

“I think there’s an expectation that if you get money from somebody that either you’re a supporter or that you’re going to essentially promote their agenda,” he said.

Mayle was also critical that the JIB is made of appointments from the governor and the Supreme Court. He said it feels “corrupt” and a “threat to democracy.”

In the letter closing Mayle’s complaint, the board says it is “prohibited, pursuant to the confidentiality provisions contained in its Constitutional authority and Rules of Procedure, from disclosing specifics regarding its deliberations, findings or decisions concerning any matter.”