Illinois Supreme Court Election Flooded with Money

Chicago - Everybody knows who's running for Governor in November.

Gov. Pat Quinn, Bill Brady and possibly a wild card, Scott Lee Cohen.

But who is Thomas Kilbride?

His views affect health care, schools, even how you fight a traffic ticket in every part of Illinois.

Millions of dollars will likely be spent on Kilbride’s election this year, though no one is running against him.

"Those of us who will be trying to defeat him," said Ed Murnane, of the Illinois Civil Justice League. "We don't even need a candidate."

Kilbride is a justice on the Illinois Supreme Court. Unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, where the President chooses a nominee and the Senate votes to confirm, in Illinois, justices like Kilbride are elected by the voters, for ten years terms.

The first time, they do run against an opponent. After that, they need 60 percent of the vote to stay on the bench.

"Here you have a judge running against no one," said Cindi Canary, of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. "Just running on their record."

The court currently has four Democrats and three Republicans. Four of the justices, including three Democrats, are running for retention in November.

But court watchers said among the four, only Kilbride is seen as vulnerable in his downstate 3rd district.

If he is voted off the bench, Republicans could be on their way toward changing the balance of the court.

Canary said, "Put on your seat belts, it's going to be nasty."

Kilbride has been targeted because he sided with three other justices, in an opinion last February. The opinion was in favor of throwing out a new law which had established limits on medical malpractice damages.

Trial attorneys were pleased with Kilbride, but doctors and insurance companies are fuming. They see dumping Kilbride as the first step toward getting caps on damages reinstated.

"The Kilbride race in central Illinois will be a very hot, very big money race," said Canary.

Big money races are nothing new to Illinois. But when it comes to electing judges, critics like retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor say you can't help but wonder if the winners feel obligated to their supporters when they show up in court. She spoke in Chicago yesterday.

"How can people have faith is the system when such large amounts of money are used to influence the outcomes of judicial elections," said former Justice O'Connor.

The battle over Kilbride has already begun.

"We are committed to trying to remove Justice Kilbride," said Ed Murnane, representing the opposition to Kilbride. He admits it's easier to spend a lot of money to oust one judge than to lobby the whole legislature for change.

Judge Kilbride is not going to be able to sneak through to retention. There are a lot people who are paying attention to him.

But Kilbride's supporters are ready too.

"This is a people's judge who represents the issues of everyday citizens," said William McNary, of Citizen Action. "The ones who are often drowned out when we talk about these kinds of matters."

Surprisingly, the same folks raising millions for the campaign admit it raises questions about judicial independence.

Ed Murnane said, "When they are picked the way they are picked, they are tainted."

McNary also said, "Surely there is an opinion, and maybe rightfully so, that justice is for sale. And that should not be."