Chicago Bar Association Releases Judicial Evaluation Findings for November 8 General Election
CBA “Judge Smart Pocket Guide” Available for Voters in English, Spanish and Polish 

Wednesday, October 12, 2022 - The Chicago Bar Association released evaluation results for sitting judges running for retention or to fill vacancies on the Appellate and Circuit Court in Cook County. The CBA strongly encourages voters to utilize the findings to cast informed votes for judicial candidates who will be on the ballot in the November 8, 2022, general election. 

The Judicial Evaluation findings are available on the CBA’s website at www.chicagobar.org/chicagobar/votejudges. The CBA’s “Judge Smart Pocket Guide” is available in English, Spanish and Polish and can be downloaded from the site for voters to take directly into the voting booth. 

“The guide is the result of thousands of hours of work by our committee members. Cook County voters have used the committee’s evaluations to decide how they wish to vote in judicial elections and taken the Voter’s Guide to their polling places for generations,” said Brian Boyle, Chair of the CBA’s Judicial Evaluation Committee.

The non-partisan evaluations are a comprehensive, peer-to-peer review process conducted as a long-standing public service by the CBA’s Judicial Evaluation Committee. Candidates who submit a questionnaire and participate in the screening process are evaluated on their integrity, legal knowledge, legal ability, professional experience, judicial temperament, diligence, and punctuality. 

“The independence of the judiciary is crucial to safeguarding our democracy and protecting the rights of all our citizens. With this in mind, the CBA employs a non-partisan judicial evaluation process that ensures we can provide voters with judicial ratings void of political influence,” said CBA President Timothy Tomasik. 

In the coming November 8, 2022, general election, the CBA recommends retaining 62 of 64 Cook County judges on the November ballot. Two judges Daniel James Pierce and Ann Finley Collins, declined to participate in the evaluation process. Judge Pierce retired September 30, 2022.

About the Judicial Evaluation Committee
The Judicial Evaluation Committee (JEC) is the semi-autonomous committee of The Chicago Bar Association that conducts evaluations of candidates for judicial offices and sitting judges seeking retention within Cook County. As a service to the public, the CBA reports the findings of the JEC for all elections. The evaluations are designed to inform the public and the courts of the qualifications, independence, and integrity of judicial candidates.