This week in History

11/20/01-- Madison County Circuit Judge Ann Callis sentenced John Derr to 30 years in prison for beating a Bethalto bar and restaurant manager to death in 1992. The case went unsolved for five years until Derr's ex-wife told police she saw him with the victim's bowling ring.

11/20/99-- Former judge Michael Meehan and associate Judges Randy Bono, Ann Callis, and Daniel Stack are among those who announce they are vying to fill a Madison County Circuit Court vacancy left by the death of Judge J. Lawrence Keshner. Callis and Meehan eventually square off in the election, won by Callis handily.

11/20/94-- A federal appeals court upheld Judge Philip Kardis' dismissal of St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge William Starnes's libel suit against the Belleville News-Democrat. The suit stemmed from the newspaper's publication of two letters from Belleville attorney Amiel Cueto to the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board that made accusations against Starnes.