ILLINOIS—Last night we covered the situation with the retention of Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier.
Justice Lloyd Karmeier
As it stands, a small group of special interests has rallied behind an incredibly vicious campaign against keeping Karmeier on the bench. A host of negative mailers, reaching back into Karmeier’s career on the circuit bench in the 1990s, has been sweeping the counties that many of the Illinois TV markets miss full saturation of, such as Jasper, Richland, Clay, Edwards and Wabash.
But the problem is, the recipients, if they’re relying on the mailers, aren’t getting the full story…and most people don’t have time or resources to devote to learning the truth.
The facts are that in the ten years Karmeier has been on the bench of the state’s Supreme Court, he’s been a part of decisions that have significantly improved the landscape of downstate Illinois. Karmeier, who’s from southwestern Illinois (Washington County), is a conservative justice who abides by the law instead of making it (“legislating from the bench”). As such, many of his decisions since 2004 have proven to support us in ways that we may not even realize.
For example, there was a lot of lawsuit abuse in the years leading up to Karmeier’s election. A vast number of those abusive suits were against downstate Illinois medical professionals in the form of medical malpractice suits that were over and above the usual med mal cases and many of which weren’t necessary. Doctors who, once they were sued, could no longer practice in downstate, left the area…and other doctors, learning about the “med mal” abuses, refused to move into the areas of southern Illinois to fill the void, fearing the abusive med mal filings by attorneys eager to make the big bucks for their investment of time and effort.
Karmeier became known for cutting through the unnecessary filings and tossing out some of the cases that were abusing the right to sue for medical malpractice. In this way, OB/GYNs, surgeon specialists, and other types of medical professionals, once scared to site in downstate Illinois, began gradually coming back, and now, the healthcare vista in southern Illinois is on an upswing…all because of judicial decisions that reined in the ridiculous lawsuit abuse. Medical malpractice insurance has also now taken a downtick in cost…which has resulted in lowered expenses for patients compared to where it was headed more than 10 years ago.
Unfortunately, when a judicial candidate is running for retention, he or she is limited in what they can tout of their record and experience. It’s up to the media and to the individual voters to find out what the deal is about a candidate (or candidates) in a hotly-contested race. But the bottom line rule of thumb is usually this: If a mass of negative ads, flyers, commercials, etc, is flooding your senses, that usually is a good indication that you should research a little more carefully. The special interest groups are behind this one; five law firms (three in Chicago, one in South Carolina and one in Mississippi) have funded nearly $2 million in anti-Karmeier campaign ads and materials. Why? They stand to gain big from decisions made by the Illinois Supreme Court in cases involving Phillip Morris (tobacco) and State Farm. Karmeier is very nearly a “swing vote” in these decisions, as the Supreme Court currently has four Democrat justices and three Republicans, the latter of which nearly all the time decide conservatively, in ways fiscal and social…but most importantly, in ways that uphold the Constitution and real justice. If Karmeier is out, these five law firms stand to receive the compensation for their work on these cases many times over their initial investment of the nearly-$2 mil…and also stand to win big in later cases, since the likelihood that a more liberal justice will be placed on the Supreme Court by appointment in order to replace Karmeier.
What’s a retention vote? The ballot carries the question: “Shall Lloyd A. Karmeier be retained in office as judge of the Supreme Court Fifth Judicial District?” It is a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Many people simply overlook this box on the ballot, having little interest in any judicial race since it’s not a competitive race (no one’s running against the judge). But it’s a crucial ballot question, in light of the fact that even on the circuit level, judges are “legislating from the bench” (making basically unconstitutional decisions, largely because of the liberal-leaning of many of these newly-elected judges). Our judges need to adhere carefully and strictly to the Constitution. Our freedoms are in danger if they do not. We need more constitutional judges and justices than we do “progressive” ones who make decisions based on emotion instead of the law.
That said, any judge needs a 60 percent majority vote to keep them on the bench. If you know of a judge who is not constitutional, or who makes decisions based on emotion, you need to vote “no” to retain that judge. A 60 percent “yes” vote, of all ballots cast, keeps a judge on the bench. The “no” votes impinge on those “yes” votes and bring the retention percentage possibility down. Leaving the question blank is as good as a “yes” vote, since most people who DO vote that box vote “yes” out of fear that someone in that judge’s camp will find out they voted against him, and if they ever appear in front of him (traffic ticket, civil issue, etc), the judge may take it out on them. That’s simply not the case…it’s not something a judge looks for when a defendant comes before him. So if your conscience is telling you to vote “no” to retain a judge, DO IT. You might be sparing someone else, maybe your child or grandchild, a decision that is unconstitutional or even unlawful in the future, the way things are going now.
But if you’re concerned about the way southern Illinois is going, you’re probably going to want to vote “yes” for Karmeier. It’s a crucial decision, and one that, should Karmeier not be retained, could go badly for us downstate. Southern Illinois needs all the support it can get, and we’re getting it from Karmeier. Let’s keep it going; vote “yes” to retain Karmeier, and tell the special-interest bigwig law firms that, like the catch phrase they’re using, “Justice shouldn’t be for sale”…especially if the salesman is undercutting you by offering you an inferior product in the form of an appointee who will do the bidding of the big lobbyists and special-interest groups.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier