May 16th, 2008 10:43am
Aaron Chambers
Illinois judges are on a roll: Almost without exception, any Illinois judge arrested for DUI refuses to take a breath test. Many also refuse the field sobriety test.
From the AP, via the Daily Chronicle:
TINLEY PARK, Ill. - A Cook County judge is expected to
appear in court next month on drunken driving charges filed last week in the southern Chicago suburb of Tinley Park.
Tinley Park Police Commander Rick Bruno said Thursday that 47-year-old Judge Sheila McGinnis of Chicago was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence after she struck another vehicle stopped at a traffic light on the evening of May 8.
Bruno said it appeared McGinnis was not traveling at a high speed, and neither she nor the five occupants of the minivan she struck were injured.
Officers said that when police arrived, McGinnis appeared intoxicated and smelled strongly of alcohol, but she refused to submit to a field sobriety test or a breath analysis.
Since covering appellate courts for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin in 1999 and 2000, I’ve been intrigued by the uncanny consistency with which judges handle DUI arrests.
Who knows the law better than a judge?
Last spring, I authored an overview on this topic for the Register Star:
Cases filed by the state’s Judicial Inquiry Board, which prosecutes judicial misconduct, read like a playbook for limiting your culpability during a DUI stop. […]
John Karns, an appellate court justice from southern Illinois, refused to blow when he was arrested for DUI in 1978. He threatened to fight police officers and “challenged one or more of the police personnel to engage in such fighting,” the JIB said.
The next morning, Karns and his lawyer seized all police documents pertaining to his arrest. The JIB said he and his lawyer destroyed or suppressed them, and that he was never prosecuted.
The JIB prosecuted two other judges arrested for DUI in the 1970s, but its complaints in those cases make no mention of breath or field sobriety tests. In that decade, breath tests were not yet widely used.
George Ray, a trial judge in central Illinois, refused field sobriety and breath tests during his DUI stop in 1989. A sheriff’s deputy stopped him for swerving in and out of his lane 20 minutes after seeing the judge sleeping in his vehicle outside a tavern.
Ray was convicted of improper lane usage but the DUI charge was dropped.
Edwin Gausselin, a Cook County judge, was stopped in 1998 for DUI in Michigan City, Ind. He refused field sobriety and breath tests, and officers later found an open bottle of whiskey in his vehicle. An Indiana judge dismissed a drunken driving and two other criminal charges, according to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
The same year, a sheriff’s deputy arrested LaSalle County Judge Cynthia Raccuglia for DUI. The deputy discovered her vehicle in the middle of a street after another motorist towed it from a ditch. As the deputy followed her from the scene, the judge steered her vehicle off the road and attempted to drive down railroad tracks.
Raccuglia submitted to field sobriety tests but refused to take a breath test. She pleaded guilty to reckless driving.
Then in late April, there was this:
Lake County Chief Judge David Hall refused to take Breathalyzer and field sobriety tests Saturday morning when he was pulled over for allegedly weaving across the center lane, according to Lake County court documents.
May 12th, 2008 08:50am
Aaron Chambers
The New York Times today covered Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the Rezko cloud over his career in a story it called “Corruption Case Taints Rising Political Star”:
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| Blagojevich at the U of I in 2006 |
When the trial began two months ago, national attention focused on how Senator Barack Obama of Illinois might suffer because of his connection to Mr. Rezko, a former patron who made a fortune on fast food and real estate.
But it is Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, an ambitious chief executive who has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing, who is left flailing in the wake of weeks of testimony. His name and administration have surfaced repeatedly, described as a participant in the kickback schemes of which Mr. Rezko is accused.
It’s been a couple years since any Illinois political insider, perhaps other than the governor himself, truly thought of Blago as a “rising political star.” His presidential hopes were long ago dashed against the rocks.
The Times story reports that Blagojevich “has been so badly wounded by association with the case that he may not be able to recover.” But the fact is that the governor had big, big problems well before this trial began.
His relations with many other Democrats were in tatters. The state’s budget problems worsened under his reign, even as he insisted that everything was going swimmingly. The state’s auditor general was having a field day documenting widespread mismanagement of executive agencies.
And federal investigators were probing the governor’s hiring, contracting and fundraising practices. The Rezko trial appears to be an outgrowth of that probe, and it may be the political death knell for Blago.
Closing arguments in the Rezko trial are supposed to begin today. Jury deliberations will follow.
UPDATE 1
Speaking of the Blagojevich administration’s trouble with management, Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland today ripped the state agency administering the state’s health care programs. From the AP:
A new audit confirms Illinois has a severe backlog of overdue health care bills, but problems with the Medicaid system go much deeper.
Auditor General William Holland found that Illinois ended each of the last three years with an average of $1.5 billion in unpaid bills.
He also found the Department of Healthcare and Family Services did a poor job of handling the bills it did manage to pay.
There was no clear system for deciding who got paid first. The state held bills for nearly two months before even starting the process of paying them.
Illinois could owe up to $81 million dollars in interest on overdue bills.
The department says it will make improvements but defends many of its procedures.
The full report is here.
UPDATE 2
Dan “Seeking Higher Office” Hynes issued a news release saying today’s audit shows the “administration’s hyprocrisy“:
“This audit provides more evidence that the administration has been mismanaging the Medicaid system and has been manipulating the payment process,” Hynes said. “By doing so, they are not helping people as they claim. Rather, they are harming some of the most vulnerable Illinoisans and the dedicated healthcare professionals who are trying to provide those citizens with critical services.”
May 9th, 2008 12:20pm
Aaron Chambers
Rep. Dave Winters, R-Shirland, recently made what struck me as a remarkable observation about the politics of race and leadership in the General Assembly. In response, Rep. Chuck Jefferson, D-Rockford, provided some insight into how he sees those powerful, yet delicate, dynamics.
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| Jefferson |
I was talking to Winters about the status of Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey’s truancy agenda — sponsored by Jefferson — and he said he was confident that Jefferson could garner Senate President Emil Jones Jr.’s support for Morrissey’s plan once it clears the House and lands in the Senate.
I’m no expert on Jefferson’s relationship with Jones, I told Winters, but I wouldn’t think Jefferson would necessarily have the inside track to Jones. Last spring, Jefferson joined House Speaker Michael Madigan’s leadership team. Jones and Madigan, both Chicago Democrats, are feuding. So my first assumption would be that Jones would view Jefferson as a Madigan surrogate and would therefore be hostile toward him, I told Winters.
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| Winters |
“I would assume that he is not seen as Madigan’s guy as much as he is the Black Caucus guy,” Winters responded. “Emil probably has very good relations with the Black Caucus.”
Members of the House Black Caucus — the collection of African-American state representatives, all Democrats — pick three members of Madigan’s exclusive leadership team. Last spring, they picked Jefferson for one of those three seats.
Like Jefferson, Jones also is black.
“Blood is stronger than water,” Winters said.
Jefferson disagreed with Winters’ interpretation. In fact, Jefferson suggested the sentiment may be just the opposite of what Winters suggested — that perhaps Jones is disappointed in black House members for following Madigan’s lead.
“Jones has some animosity toward the House members as it relates to the Black Caucus because we are under Mike Madigan’s reign,” Jefferson said.
“Well, he’s the speaker of the House. That’s who we supposedly follow. (Jones is) upset sometimes that maybe we don’t follow his lead the way he feels we should. And that’s OK. That’s his perception of the situation. Just like Emil holds his members accountable, we’re accountable to Mike Madigan. And because we’re accountable to Mike Madigan, it doesn’t get us favoritism with the president of the Senate.”
Jones spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer declined to comment.
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| Jones |
“(Jones) views that sometimes it’s maybe not (the House Black Caucus) being in his corner as it relates to a lot of things. Well, that’s not the case,” Jefferson said.
“If we’ve got to pick an issue, we’re probably going to be more supportive of the House issue, under Mike Madigan’s reign, than we would under his leadership as president of the Senate. I don’t think we’re enemies. But I don’t think that I can get anything done (in the Senate) any sooner than (Sen.) Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) in the Senate. If anyone is going to champion a bill, I’d certainly want to go and talk to President Jones about the bill. But I think that we need to pick it up on that side with Sen. Syverson to make sure he’s doing everything.”
Jefferson concluded, “We need to be able to cut across party lines. And the fact that I’m black and Emil is black, I don’t think carries a lot of weight with Emil at this point in time.”
May 8th, 2008 12:13pm
Andrea Zimmermann
Rep. Chuck Jefferson on Wednesday pitched Rockford’s truancy plan to a panel of lawmakers, but he appeared to miss the mark when describing Rockford’s existing anti-truancy program.
Mayor Larry Morrissey’s plan would allow the city to fine the parents of children under the age of 13 — to encourage those parents, in the city’s view, to get their children in school. Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, asked Jefferson what responsibility the Rockford School District to ensure the students are in school.
“Well, I guess that’s one of the problems,” Jefferson said. “We don’t have truancy officers in place; so this is a mechanism to deal with that problem. The truancy officers are no longer available.”
In fact, the School District does have seven truancy officers who deal with elementary and middle school students, said Ed Hayden at the Rockford School District. At the end of Feb. 28, the district hired three truancy officers to work in the high school as well, he said.
Hayden said these truancy officers go by another title — home-school counselors. Until the Feb. 28 meeting, the high school did not have people who dealt solely with truancy, but the seven other workers have been in place for some time, he said.
But Hayden also said dealing with truants is “definitely a part of their job description.” In fact, he said the home-school counselors’ job descriptions recently changed from dealing with chronic truants who have 18 or more unexcused absences to handling truants who have at least four unexcused absences.
Moreover, the School District’s truancy officers have been at the heart of the community’s discussion about its rampant truancy problem in recent months. Morrissey is frustrated with what he views as a lack of information about truants flowing from the School District to his administration. The School District says it does pass the names of repeat truants to the city, but only after its truancy officers first have an opportunity to deal with these students.
Morrissey’s plan also is designed to facilitate the flow of more information from the School District to his administration.
The bill passed committee with an 8-1 vote, and is pending on the House floor. It is not clear when this bill will come up for a vote.
UPDATE 1 by AC
Stephen Katz, the School District’s attorney, said in an e-mail:
We have 10 home school counselors. Hired 3 more this winter.
May 7th, 2008 10:54pm
Andrea Zimmermann
Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson on Wednesday said this year’s legislative session is likely to stretch well into the summer.
“I don’t see us getting more done in the next four weeks than we’ve done in the last five months,” Watson said during the Illinois Business Day luncheon in Springfield. “I don’t see a lot of meetings I don’t see a budget or much discussion there. It’s poison in the air, and that’s not conducive to getting things done. So I would expect to see us back here again in the summer.” (more…)
May 7th, 2008 11:58am
Aaron Chambers
What is it with some men in politics and their fixation on testes?
First it was Gov. Rod Blagojevich saying he had the “testicular virility”to fend off the influence of his father-in-law, a ward boss from Chicago’s North Side who was Blagojevich’s political mentor.
“This is the kind of thing that I think separates the men from the boys in leadership. Do you have the testicular virility to make a decision like that, knowing what’s coming your way?” Blagojevich said. “I say I do.”
This is the same man who in 2004 accused Attorney General Lisa Madigan of doing her father’s bidding when she effectively quashed his plan to mortgage Chicago’s Thompson Center for $200 million. Her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, is Blagojevich’s political nemesis.
“It’s her father. You know, I can’t fault her,” Blagojevich told reporters in Chicago. “I don’t want to get involved in a family deal here but, you know, it’s her father. I’ve got two daughters. I hope they back me on stuff that I do.”
Blagojevich got back on the side of working women in 2006, when he dismissed a reporter’s questions about his wife’s questionable real estate deals as “Neanderthal and sexist.”
Now back to testes. Last week, it was labor leader Paul Gibson projecting big, powerful testes onto none other than Hillary Clinton:
“If you’re thinking the next President of the United States should address and amend and convince people that here are the flaws with that law, and here’s what we’re supposed to do and it shouldn’t cause harm to either border,” said Gibson. “Well, you know what, then I truly believe that that is going to take an individual that has testicular fortitude, that’s exactly right, that’s what we got to have.”
I am a man. But I cannot imagine seriously and publicly equating mental and intellectual prowess and stamina with the presence of testicles. I’d go with a metaphor just a touch more sophisticated than Fonzie, Andrew Dice Clay and Chris Farley. (more…)
May 7th, 2008 08:02am
Andrea Zimmermann
As of this writing, the price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Rockford was $3.70 a gallon. In St. Louis, it was $3.60.
You might wonder why I bring up St. Louis’ gas prices, aside from the 10-cent difference. That’s because I grew up just across the river from Missouri’s largest city, and I lived close enough to hop on the Clark Bridge to drive a couple hundred feet to a gas station that made its profits almost solely off Illinois drivers like myself.
State gas taxes are the primary reason for such price jumps across state lines, according to a piece in Tuesday’s New York Times. And although oil hit $123 a barrel Tuesday, that number is not the only factor for the prices we see reflected on gas stations’ signs. Federal and state taxes play a part as well. Check out this great graphic from the Times’ story to see a state-by-state comparison.
We’ve heard a lot about how two presidential candidates want to temporarily slash the federal tax, and in Illinois, state Republicans are calling for the state to reduce its portion of the gas tax for the summer months. (more…)
May 7th, 2008 02:30am
Aaron Chambers
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s determination to unilaterally expand state-subsidized health care, despite the fact that lawmakers repeatedly rejected his plan and refused to provide funding for it, has prompted quite the debacle.
His administration claims it can’t easily differentiate between costs associated with his unilateral expansion of FamilyCare — a move recently blocked by Cook County Judge James Epstein — and those costs associated with the state’s previously existing, core health care programs including Medicaid.
And because the administration cannot distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate payments, state Comptroller Dan Hynes is withholding payments for legitimate health care expenses as well as payments associated with the governor’s blocked expansion, according to Larry Blust, an attorney for the administration.
Hynes did “not receive from (the administration) any information from which (he) could independently determine which invoice vouchers relate to services provided under the old eligibility guidelines and which vouchers relate to services provided under the new guidelines at issue in this case,” Hynes’ attorneys said recently in a court brief.
Hynes therefore “would be unable to determine on a day-to-day basis whether (his office) was or was not complying with any (temporary restraining order) or preliminary injunction that might be entered by this court,” they said.
If Hynes withheld health care payments across the board for fear of violating the judge’s order by inadvertently making payments associated with the governor’s now-blocked health care expansion, then doctors and health care providers who provided services under the state’s legitimate health care program are not getting paid.
According to Blust, Hynes withheld at least $72 million in payments. Hynes spokeswoman Carol Knowles declined to answer questions concerning the comptroller’s policy on these payments, instead referring me to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which administers the state’s health care programs. (more…)
May 6th, 2008 02:30am
Aaron Chambers
Continuing to raise his profile while traveling Illinois, state Comptroller Dan Hynes on Monday slammed Gov. Rod Blagojevich for reportedly threatening to cut higher education funding.
Blagojevich has said the state has a $750 million deficit in the budget ending June 30, and his aides have said a number of programs — including perhaps higher education — may not get all the funding that lawmakers appropriated for them this year.
In a news release following a visit to Western Illinois University, Hynes said the governor ought to honor the state’s commitment.
“The Governor says we can’t afford to give colleges and universities the state assistance they promised this year,” Hynes said following a round table discussion with administrators from Western Illinois University. “I say we can’t afford not to. I say investing in our colleges and universities is one of the best investments this state can make to help ensure a thriving economy and a solid future for the next generation. The Governor needs to keep his word and give the universities the funding they were promised.” (more…)
May 5th, 2008 12:40pm
Aaron Chambers
Try as he might to unilaterally expand the availability of state-subsidized health care, Gov. Rod Blagojevich is pushing his program forward with one step forward, two steps back.
Blagojevich kicked off spring session last year by calling on lawmakers to approve his version of universal health care backed by the largest tax hike in Illinois history — a tax on the gross receipts of Illinois businesses. But the House shot down his gross receipts tax, and the governor failed to shepherd his health care plan through either chamber of the Legislature — even the Senate, where his ally Emil Jones Jr. is president.
Onward to August, when Blagojevich used his veto power to slash more than $460 million in grants and other spending — pork, he called it — from the budget that lawmakers belatedly approved. He focused his cuts on grants secured by political adversaries, sparing those earmarked by political allies.
The governor insisted at the time that he would use the money to support his health care plan. Never mind that lawmakers, whom under the state Constitution have the exclusive power to “make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the State,” had not appropriated the spending for his health care plan; the governor insisted he could unilaterally redirect the spending for his health care plan anyway.
“In short, I’m cutting pork and special interest spending, and in its place, I’m using the legal authority that I have to expand health care,” the governor said.
In November, the governor’s administration filed an “emergency” rule to vastly expand the state’s FamilyCare program, pushing Illinois toward his goal of universal health care. It said the “lack of access to insurance has reached a crisis level requiring immediate action.”
Fast forward to this spring, when the governor’s aides applauded him for saving the budget from an even larger budget hole. When the governor’s office announced that the budget has a $750 million deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30, they said the hole would be far larger if the governor hadn’t taken fiscally prudent action last August and vetoed more than $460 million in spending. (more…)
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