Sangamon County Circuit Judge Ryan Cadigan on Thursday dismissed Madison County’s challenge to its division into three judicial subcircuits.
Cadagin found he couldn’t overrule Supreme Court justices who certified two vacancies for election in one of the subcircuits this November
Voters in the other two subcircuits will have no vote on either vacancy.
Legislators passed a Judicial Redistricting Act on Jan. 5.
Madison County board members adopted a resolution against it on Jan. 13, endorsing State’s Attorney Tom Haine to sue for an order declaring the Act unconstitutional.
In the suit that followed, Haine specifically sought to require the Supreme Court clerk to certify vacancies for countywide elections under the previous law.
Cadigan granted a temporary restraining order, but Fourth District appellate judges directed him to make a deeper analysis.
At a hearing on Thursday, attorney Devon Bruce of Powers Rogers in Chicago argued for legislators that the Supreme Court entered its order in furtherance of the Act.
Bruce said Cadigan lacked jurisdiction.
“We don’t need to get bogged down in this clerk thing,” Bruce said.
He said that to grant relief to the county, “You’ve got to reverse a Supreme Court order.”
Assistant attorney general Joshua Ratz said election law for representatives doesn’t apply to judges.
“Judges are not representatives of the people," Ratz said. "Judges don’t have constituencies.”
He said courts can’t peek underneath legislative decisions.
“Everyone has their reasons for the way they vote,” he said.
He said Madison County lacked standing to sue.
Counties are instruments of the state and “the arm has no right to object to what the head is doing,” he said.
Ratz also said the county claimed the Act created too many ballot styles, there wasn’t enough time (to implement changes in 2022), and they (General Assembly) never did it before.
“These are not legal claims they can press in court," Ratz said.
“If I want to move, I could run...It might be difficult to move but it’s not unconstitutional.”
Ratz said that Madison County Circuit Judge Amy Sholar - who last year announced plans to run for the seat she currently holds by appointment - could move to Lake County.
He said that Madison County claimed it was unfair to assign three judges to two subcircuits and two judges to the third subcircuit.
“The legislature decided on eight judgeships and you have to divide it somehow,” Ratz said.
Cadigan declared a break and after it, Haine said he would dismiss the Supreme Court clerk from a claim.
He said the county was injured by a vast expansion of power.
He said that once Cadigan declared the Act unconstitutional, prior law would be enforced by operation of law.
Cadigan asked Haine when he decided to dismiss the clerk, and said he should have done it long ago.
“It was 15 minutes ago," Haine said.
Cadigan said that if he declared the Act unconstitutional and his order didn’t trigger a reversion of the Supreme Court order, his order would be hollow.
He said he lacked jurisdiction and the county lacked standing.
After the hearing, Haine said the challenge to this "rotten law" is not over. He said his office would consider all appeal options, including to the Illinois Supreme Court.
"This law is unprecedented and radical," he said. "Important fights are never easy and this issue needs to be fully decided on the merits."
He said there are "fundamental concerns regarding the power of the General Assembly" that need to be decided.
Haine's suit claims that legislators who split Madison County into judicial subcircuits intended to manipulate outcomes of judicial elections.
“This is not a peripheral act, but rather a bold encroachment upon the rights of the people of Madison County to elect their judges and the integrity of the judicial branch itself," Haine argues.
“If the General Assembly can unashamedly gerrymander judicial districts for partisan reasons in order to control judicial outcomes, what authority does the judiciary have left?”
State Rep. Amy Elik (R-Fosterburg) issued the following statement:
“Regardless of today’s ruling, right is right, and wrong is wrong. The Democrat’s scheme to elect more Democrat judges by taking away the ability of Madison County voters to elect a judge countywide is just plain wrong. The Democrat-controlled legislature continues to pass laws that give themselves a competitive advantage, in this case, they overstepped their boundaries. I’m disappointed with the outcome but I remain optimistic that restoring integrity and fairness to the way we elect judges in Madison County will hold strong.”