Illinois: 3 judges miss filing deadline for reelection, may sue
The Chicago Tribune reports: Three Cook County judges face the potential loss of their seats after they missed a deadline last week to file for retention.
"She simply forgot to file," said Mathias Delort, an election lawyer representing Judge Joan Margaret O'Brien. "She is crestfallen about the situation."
Delort and Burt Odelson, a lawyer representing Judge Carole Kamin Bellows, who also failed to file on time, are asking a Cook County judge to rule unconstitutional the state statute setting the Dec. 5 deadline.
A hearing before Judge Patrick McGann, the presiding judge of the county division, has been set for Monday.
Delort said a law passed in 1977 by the Illinois General Assembly violated the state constitution when it moved the judges' filing deadline to December, even though the election does not take place until November of the following year. The constitution calls for judges seeking retention to file in May, he said. -- Chicago Tribune | 3 judges miss deadlines, could lose seats