“Okay, everybody, listen up. The current chief justice for our state supreme court has reached the end of his term, so we have to pick a new one. Any suggestions?”
“I think Judge X would make a good chief justice. How about her?’
“Isn’t she married to Alderman X?”
“Sure, but what difference does that make?”
“Haven’t you heard? He’s just been indicted on multiple counts of corruption.”
“Yeah, but she’s not responsible for what her husband does. Just because he’s corrupt doesn’t mean she is. Besides, it’s only an indictment. Maybe he’s innocent. [Guffaw!] Even if he is guilty, that doesn’t mean she knew what he was doing, whether she profited from it or not, unwittingly.”
“Still, it doesn’t look good.”
“Are you kidding me? This is Illinois. Nobody cares about appearances.”
Well, there you have it. That imaginary conversation pretty much sums up everything that’s wrong with Illinois. Maybe that conversation never occurred, but it should have – and, if it didn’t, things are even worse than we imagined.
Are the citizens of Illinois so jaded by decades of corruption that no one cares anymore about brazen examples of potential conflict of interest?
Check with your family and friends, your neighbors and your co-workers, and poll them to see if any are the least bit concerned by the recent announcement that Anne Burke has been chosen by her peers to serve as the next chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court in the immediate aftermath of her husband, Alderman Ed Burke, being indicted on 14 counts of corruption for using his public position to “persuade” businessmen to avail themselves of the “services” of his law firm.
How many quid pro quos was Alderman Burke offering? Was he dangling the possibility of special consideration only before the Chicago City Council, or did he lead some of his victims to believe that he might have “sway” with the state supreme court, too?
We don’t know, but it’s worth investigating, not that anybody in Illinois cares.