(The Center Square) – Another group has come out to oppose the retention of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride, but the judge is pushing back.
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday urged voters to vote no to Kilbride in November. The Illinois Republican Party recently launched a “Vote No on Kilbride” campaign, stating that the judge is part of the Michael Madigan machine.
Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch singled out Kilbride’s decision in 2016 that denied Illinois voters the right to have a say on how the state should draw its legislative and congressional districts.
“Illinois has a terrible national reputation for fairness in our courts, and unfortunately Justice Kilbride is part of that reputation,” Maisch said
Maisch also said Kilbride often sides with trial lawyers and organized labor against the interests of Illinois businesses and the economy.
“We need a justice that is much more even-handed, isn’t always with trial lawyers and organized labor, especially in this time of a difficult economy,” Maisch said.
Maisch added that Kilbride was the only justice to support allowing a man to sue an ambulance driver responding to an emergency call that he struck with his vehicle. A six-justice majority ruled that a hospital was not liable and set aside the jury verdict, but Kilbride agreed with the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association that a man should be allowed to sue after he was injured.
The Kilbride campaign released a statement Wednesday quoting state’s attorney, judges and lawyers who have warned of a “shadowy dark money” group that has funneled money into the state trying to influence the retention vote against Kilbride.
According to the statement, past Chief Judge Steve Kouri and former Kankakee State’s Attorney and retired Chief Judge Michael Kirk joined Peoria attorney Tim Bertschy to decry the influx of out-of-state money being spent on “false attacks by special interest groups attempting to influence Illinois’ highest court.”
Another group opposed to Kilbride’s retention is called “Citizens for Judicial Fairness.” Former Congressman Ray LaHood said the committee plans to shine a light on how the legal decisions have affected central Illinois communities.
“His decision about pensions have now rendered every city in Illinois bankrupt because we can’t meet the pension liabilities,” LaHood said.
Kilbride’s campaign said the pension decision was unanimous.
“While political interest groups search for a scapegoat to blame for all the state’s problems, they should be reminded that when it comes to pension reform, the court’s 2015 pension decision was a unanimous decision authored by a justice elected as a Republican; a Republican the Illinois Chamber of Commerce unequivocally supported,” the campaign statement said.
According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Kilbride’s committee has reported raising $1.49 million for his retention campaign.
The Democrat must receive 60% of the vote to retain his seat on the court. If defeated, the seat would be up for grabs during an election in 2022.
