Rock Island Today

In the shadow of the bribery investigation into Commonwealth Edison that has led to allegations of involvement by House Speaker Mike Madigan, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride’s relationship to Madigan is coming under increasing scrutiny.

While Madigan’s campaign committees have yet to make any expenditures related to the retention campaign for Kilbride – whose retention is on the line this election year – the Democrat Party of Illinois Campaign Committee, which Madigan controls, has spent $1.48 million on keeping Kilbride on the bench since he was on the ballot in 2010, according to Illinois Policy Institute. The donation made up the majority of Kilbride’s funds raised for that election.

Additionally, since 2005, Madigan-controlled campaign committees have spent nothing on campaigning for any other state Supreme Court justice, according to Illinois Policy Institute. Since the Democrat Party of Illinois Campaign Committee was formed in 2000, it has sent approximately $2 million Kilbride’s way.

And Madigan has benefitted from Kilbride being on the court, according to Illinois Policy Institute. He wrote the majority opinion in the 4-3 state Supreme Court decision to strike an independent maps initiative from the ballot in 2016 in Hooker v. Illinois State Board of Elections. The initiative would have made redistricting the business of an independent commission, rather than – as it remains – Madigan’s prerogative.

Yet, Illinois Policy Institute hinted that perhaps the ultimate solution to the appearance of undue influence over a state Supreme Court justice by Madigan won’t be reached by simply bringing Kilbride’s retention into question. Instead, it may be time for Illinois to consider eliminating a model in which judges are chosen by election.

“When a state chooses its judges by elections and retention votes and forces judges to become political campaigners, the appearance of influence is difficult to get around,” Illinois Policy Institute stated.