BELLEVILLE – Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson of the 20th Circuit closed St. Clair County court last Friday for the Juneteenth holiday and kept the courts of Monroe, Perry, Randolph and Washington counties open.
Gov. Pritzker had signed the holiday into law on June 16, and on the next day the Supreme Court gave chief judges the option to close on June 18.
The Supreme Court stayed open and Chief Justice Anne Burke directed appellate courts to stay open, “to avoid disruption to court users.”
Burke told all state paid members of the judicial branch to, “Check with your local courthouse.”
A survey of Southern Illinois counties and the state’s most populous counties found all courts open except in St. Clair and Cook counties.
Perry County Circuit Clerk Kimberly Kellerman said, “We were open all day today and dutifully continued our work for the public.”
Officials in other circuits said chief judges kept all their courts open.
Deputy Franklin County clerk Mary Simion said, “We have a lot of stuff to do right here. We had marriages set for today…We felt obligated because we made appointments for people.”
She said a holiday needs the approval of the county board.
Macoupin County clerk Pete Duncan said, “We had court dates set and other things that were happening. It didn’t leave a lot of room to make a decision.”
Callers to Cook County heard a recording that apologized for any inconvenience.
Gleeson’s action foreshadowed the removal of Monroe, Perry, Randolph and Washington from the 20th Circuit next year.
St. Clair County will gain equal status with Cook County as the only single county circuits in Illinois.
Burke’s message captured the current mixture of platitudes and confusion.
“This year, we can recognize the holiday individually with our family and friends and, in the words of the new legislation, ‘reflect on the suffering endured by early African-Americans’ and ‘celebrate the unique freedom and equality enjoyed by all State citizens today,’” she wrote.
She wrote that the holiday “commemorates the abolition of slavery throughout the United States and its territories in 1865.”
She didn’t specify a date, and abolition didn’t happen in a year.
Vermont abolished slavery in 1777, Pennsylvania in 1780.
Illinois abolished it in 1848.
Voters nationwide endorsed abolition in 1860, by electing Abraham Lincoln as President.
His army advanced the cause at Antietam Creek in Maryland on Sept. 17, 1862, by repelling an invasion on the bloodiest day of the Civil War.
Lincoln signed a preliminary emancipation proclamation five days later.
He signed a final proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, as a war measure that applied to states in rebellion but not to border states.
Border state Maryland abolished slavery in 1864, and border state Missouri abolished it on Jan. 11, 1865.
On April 9, 1865, at Appomattox, Virginia, Lincoln’s army subdued the rebellion and his proclamation took effect.
It took 10 weeks for the army to gain complete control, working westward, and the message of emancipation reached Texas last.
General Gordon Granger announced it at Galveston on June 19.
Slavery remained legal in Kentucky and Delaware until ratification of the 13th Amendment on Dec. 6, 1865.