(Editor's note: This story has been updated from it's original version)
A series of political attack ads funded by the Madison County Democratic Central Committee took hits at Republican judicial candidates.
The effort, called Judge For Yourself, released the ads just weeks before the Nov. 8 general election at the close of mostly quiet campaigns - though in a year that began with the upending of judicial races in Madison County by the Democratically-controlled state legislature.
Republican Circuit judge Amy Sholar, who seeks election to the Richard Tognarelli vacancy, vowed not to go negative in her campaign.
“Unfortunately, in politics, people say negative things when they have nothing else to say,” Sholar stated on her campaign website. “I was thoroughly screened by the Illinois Supreme Court and appointed to my position as judge.”
The Democratic party has been criticized for its role in attempting to secure Democratic victories in an increasingly conservative-voting county to the three circuit judge vacancies by establishing gerrymandered judicial subcircuits through the Judicial Circuits Districting Act of 2022.
The ad aimed at Circuit Judge Chris Threlkeld - who seeks election to the vacancy created by former circuit judge David Dugan’s appointment to federal court - attacks him for moving his residence in order to run for election.
However, it mistakenly accuses him of moving into the "third" subcircuit, when the election actually takes place in the "first" subcircuit. Voters in the third judicial subcircuit - the eastern portion of the county - will not get to vote for any of the three judicial vacancies and could have to wait a decade or more before getting to vote for a judge due to the way the law was written.
Threlkeld announced his intention to run for Dugan’s vacancy in April 2021.
Democratis in the Illinois legislature subsequently - without any input from Madison County, according to Chief Judge Bill Mudge - established the gerrymandered judicial subcircuits within the Third Judicial Circuit on Jan. 5. The Act was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker two days later.
Threlkeld was forced to move to judicial Subcircuit 1 to be eligible to run for the vacancy he already occupied and had already begun campaigning for. He moved from Edwardsville, from a residence that barely missed the Subcircuit 1 boundary, to Wood River.
The Democrat PAC also attacks Threlkeld for representing “the bad guy” in criminal cases “instead of looking out for us.”
The ad goes as far as claiming that Threlkeld, who has been serving as judge since 2020 by appointment of the Illinois Supreme Court and has been recommended by the Illinois State Bar Association, is “unfit” to be a judge. It argues that Threlkeld “should not be in a position of power,” because he represented criminal defendants prior to becoming a circuit judge.
The crimes allegedly committed by individuals the committee refers to as “the bad guys” include illegal gun possession, illegally prescribing opioids, selling illegal drugs, illegally possessing machine guns and fraud, all of which would not trigger authorized detention under the Democratically-supported SAFE-T Act.
It was Illinois Democrats that passed the controversial SAFE-T Act, which has, this election season, garnered bi-partisan opposition among state's attorneys and sheriffs across the state. Under the 764-page law that was passed in the early hours of Jan. 13 during a lame-duck session, most criminal defendants will be released pending trial beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine previously referred to the SAFE-T Act as the “greatest jailbreak in Madison County history.” Haine, a Republican, and Madison County Sheriff Tom Lakin, a Democrat, are among dozens of Illinois officials who've challenged the law's constitutionality through litigation.
Haine argues that defendants charged with the following crimes will be released while their cases are being litigated: second-degree murder, robbery, burglary, arson, aggravated battery, kidnapping, hate crimes, aggravated fleeing, vehicular homicide, drug induced homicides, threatening a public official and aggravated DUI - including those which leave victims dead or permanently disfigured.
“In fact, under the SAFE-T Act, no drug offenses will be detainable, not even delivery of fentanyl or trafficking cases,” he said. “Major drug traffickers will be given a mandatory get-out-of-jail-free card by the SAFE-T Act.”
Under the new law, Haine said criminal defendants can only be detained while awaiting trial when the prosecutor can show a “high likelihood of willful flight,” which is defined as “planning or attempting to intentionally evade prosecution by concealing oneself.” A prior history of failing to appear in court is not enough.
Politicizing Madison County courts via the Judicial Circuits Districting Act of 2022
The backdrop going into this election year with two confirmed circuit court vacancies in play, and with Madison County voters increasingly preferring Republican leaders, is that for the first time in decades the Third Judicial Circuit had a likely chance of becoming a Republican majority bench.
However, in the middle of the night on Jan. 5, without public debate, a law that many have called "egregious" and threatening to the fairness and integrity of the judiciary passed the House and Senate on party lines. It restructured elections so that Madison County circuit judges - eight of them - are elected by voters only per subcircuit rather than countywide.
The dramatic changes forged by Democrat lawmakers in Springfield would impact Madison County elections this year, rather than allowing time for local election officials and candidates to prepare for future elections.
The law pushed the two Republican incumbents out of contention by drawing the boundaries away from their residences.
Conversely, the boundaries were drawn in a gerrymandered way to include the affluent Fox Creek neighborhood of Democrat candidate Barry Julian, and the residence of Democrat candidate Associate Judge Ryan Jumper.
The law also was written so that the first three vacancies would occur in Subcircuit 1. Elections for the subsequent three vacancies will take place in Subcircuit 2 and the two after that will occur in Subcircuit 3.
In other state courts that have subcircuits, elections for vacancies - which occur when a judge retires or otherwise leave the bench - aren't clumped together like the law forged onto Madison County, they are staggered.
After some dust settled this year and the two Republican candidates changed their residences, Judge Mudge, a Democrat, announced that he would retire, thereby creating another vacancy to be voted on this year in Subcircuit 1, where Jumper resides. A short time later, Jumper announced his candidacy for the Mudge vacancy.
In effect, voters in the largest geographic subcircuit (3) could be waiting many, many years before casting a ballot for an elected judge. Even if that were to occur 10 years from now, the subcircuits could be redrawn following the 2030 decennial census.
Candidate Tim Berkley
“Judge For Yourself” also attacked Republican candidate Tim Berkley, who seeks the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Judge Mudge, and faces Jumper.
The committee accused Berkley of “looking out for himself,” saying Madison County “can’t afford” him because he could receive a salary and a pension at the same time if elected.
Berkley served as a Madison County public defender for more than 20 years. His first law job was as an assistant state's attorney under Bill Haine's administration.
Prior to announcing his intention to seek the Mudge vacancy, Berkley served as a senior law clerk to Fifth District Appellate Justice John Barberis, drafting opinions on a team of writers.
Berkley had to resign that position he took in 2017 to be eligible to run for circuit court judge. He currently is employed at the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor's office.
The ad also attacks Berkley for supporting "politicians and special interests who oppose protecting workers ..."
Candidate Amy Sholar
Judge For Yourself released an ad attacking Circuit Judge Amy Sholar for her involvement in a 2001 traffic crash and a 2003 bankruptcy filing.
Sholar had to move her residence from Godfrey in order to be eligible for the seat she holds by appointment of the Illinois Supreme Court. She moved to Alton.
Sholar's opponent, Democratic candidate Ebony Huddleston of Alton, was the only Madison County judicial candidate who was not recommended by the ISBA.