In 2024, I relied on the Injustice Watch evaluation of judges, which was featured in the Chicago Tribune. They highlighted judges who were incompetent, or worse, and they appeared to be a trustworthy source.
This year, I am relying on the information at the CWBChicago website (part one and part two), which features judges who have made appalling decisions in criminal cases. I encourage you to read my explanations below or the full descriptions at those pages, and to make active decisions on the judges’ retention elections rather than skipping this section of the ballot.
The ones I am voting “no” on
Judge Laura Ayala-Gonzalez placed several defendants on electronic monitoring who went on to be accused of serious crimes, including a man charged with trying to kill two Chicago police officers, who cut off his ankle monitor and disappeared for a month. (Part one)
Judge Patrick Coughlin returned a man to electronic monitoring after pretrial services logged about 46 curfew violations. That man is now charged with first-degree murder for an ambush committed while wearing the monitor. (Part one)
Judge Anjana Hansen released a man awaiting trial for burglary, released him again after he was arrested for a second burglary while on an ankle monitor, and only after a third burglary arrest kept him in jail. (Part one)
Judge Robert Kuzas is a mixed bag, but in 2022 he released, without electronic monitoring, a man charged with punching a woman in the face on a Red Line platform, even though a pretrial risk analysis scored him 6 out of 6 for likelihood to commit a new crime and 5 out of 6 for likelihood to fail to appear in court. The man then failed to appear and attacked two tourists on a Red Line platform, stabbing one in the face and punching the other. (Part two)
Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez is the judge who put Lawrence Reed on electronic monitoring, saying, “I can’t keep everybody in jail because the State’s Attorney wants me to.” Three months later he was charged with dousing a woman with gasoline and setting her on fire on a Blue Line train. (Part two)
And finally, Judge Steven Watkins is best known for approving and immediately sealing the settlement that let Jussie Smollett escape penalties for faking an attack, unsealing it only after media organizations filed legal challenges. (Part two)
(What about the judge who released the man who went on to shoot Police Officer John Bartholomew? He is not up for retention this cycle.)
None of these cases of indifference to public safety were flagged in the Injustice Watch report as controversial matters, so I can no longer rely on that report for my decisions.