Judge Ratings for 2012 Primary

 
Pundits predict a low-turnout primary, but north Evanston prides itself on civic participation. Important items on the March 20 ballot include the opportunity to nominate candidates for 14 judicial positions, from Illinois Supreme Court to our local subcircuit. The men and women who don the black robes will make thousands of decisions affecting Illinoisans' lives. We hope you will take time to vote on Election Day.
 
CSNA is not endorsing in these elections but as a public service offers a chart, which you may download by clicking here or the thumbnail above, of twelve bar association evaluations of judicial candidates who will be on the ballot for Evanston voters. The four largest are listed first: Chicago Council of Lawyers, Illinois State Bar Association, and Cook County Bar Association. Ratings from eight smaller lawyers' groups, in alphabetical order, are then also included. You may print this chart and take it into the voting booth.
 
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Bar ratings are not the only indicator of candidates' merit. We urge you to look at all the factors suggesting what kind of a judge a candidate would make, including experience, community service, political background, and others' endorsements.
 
Note: all the judicial candidates for judge are running in the Democratic primary, except for James G. Riley running for Illinois Supreme Court as a Republican. Ninth Judicial Subcircuit candidates run in a local area that includes all of Evanston and some neighboring suburbs, plus some of the far north side of Chicago. Your vote counts even more in these two races. All six candidates have websites:

Lionel Jean-Baptiste (Bender vacancy) jeanbaptisteforjudge.org
Michael Bender (Bender vacancy) electjudgebender.com
Mary Trew (Epstein vacancy) votetrew.com
Abbey F. Romanek (Epstein vacancy) advocatesforabbey.com
David Adams (Epstein vacancy) adams4judge.com
Larry Axelrood (Epstein vacancy) axelroodforjudge.org