By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – They remapped the Illinois House and Senate, then the U.S. House seats in Illinois. The General Assembly Wednesday tackled a judicial remap, adding some sub-circuits, and has now completed its cartography for another decade.
And the whole process upset superminority Republicans.
“Judges should be neutral arbitrators of the law, not cronies for a political machine,” said Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie. “This is nothing more than a power grab and another example of the corruption that exists in this state.”
“We are creating opportunities for a more diverse judiciary,” countered the bill’s sponsor, Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park). “This is about how people have faith in the judges they elect. And if you elect all the judges from a large, white county, you are going to get all large, white judges.”
Large, white judges?
Nevertheless, the debates did not commence until around suppertime, as Republicans stayed far enough away from both chambers to threaten a quorum, a point which Harmon felt gave him license to repeatedly call the Republicans uncooperative during Wednesday’s debate.
After cancelling two of the scheduled three session days this week, the lawmakers set no date to return to Springfield.
HB 3138 has passed the Senate, 41-16, and the House, 66-34, and awaits the governor’s action.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]
