State Rep. Jay Hoffman claims the reason for peeling off Monroe, Perry, Randolph and Washington counties from the 20th Judicial Circuit, and making St. Clair County a circuit unto its own, is because of its heavy caseload.
While it may be true that St. Clair County has an extraordinarily high volume of litigation compared to other similarly sized counties in Illinois, the reason isn't because plaintiffs are seeking the most fair and impartial judges in the land.
In reality, the heavy caseload is a result of Jay's trial lawyer cronies being given easy access to defendant companies and getting predictable results that Democrat judges deliver in St. Clair County. All by design.
By way of example, St. Clair County has grown to become the nation's second busiest asbestos court (after Madison County), where plaintiffs from all over the country sue companies that often have no connection to alleged injuries.
What you won't hear Jay say about the creation of a new 24th Judicial Circuit for the outer counties is that voters there are the "problem" - they are increasingly Republican - and that threatens the Democrat machine's grasp on power.
So, how does the trial bar keep the St. Clair County Court ATM machine running? Wait until there are just hours remaining in the spring legislative session, then get a Democrat state representative who carries their water to add radical language to a shell bill that carves out Republicans from a favored judicial circuit. Make sure that the only judicial stakeholders who know about it are on your side, otherwise some might argue that the legislature is trespassing on the judiciary. Don't have hearings where curious members of the public might demand a rational basis for redistricting.
And with time running out, is it even necessary that your Senate sponsor know what's in the bill when everyone knows Democrats will pass it anyway? As it turns out, no.
Jay may be a hero among his trial lawyer constituency today, but not among the people who will have to pay whatever it costs to operate the additional judicial circuit if enacted next year.
If any court system deserves induction into the Judicial Hellhole Hall of Fame, this legislative sneak should do it for St. Clair County.