Ticket-Fixing Illinois Judges

Who says judges, prosecutors, and other law enforcement officials DON'T think they're above the law?

The Rove Republican Racket created an atmosphere of elitism during the Rove-Bush-Cheney Administration that impaired the impartiality of the U.S. Department of Justice and trickled down to local prosecutors and judges.

Both judicial and prosecutorial misconduct have risen in the past decade and today we share a story from the Land of Lincoln, the capital of the State of Illinois. The Springfield State Journal Register reports:

A pair of Sangamon County judges are suspected of fixing a traffic ticket, and the case has been turned over to the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board, which could result in discipline ranging from reprimands to removal from the bench. Associate Judge Judge Robert Hall on June 7 dismissed a Leland Grove ticket issued a month earlier to the 16-year-old daughter of Associate Judge Christopher Perrin. Police say the teen failed to heed a road-closed sign.

Hall initialed a court document indicating the state’s attorney’s office had moved for dismissal, and the docket on the circuit clerk’s website shows the ticket was dismissed for insufficient evidence. However, the docket also shows that no prosecutor was present when the case was dismissed, and State’s Attorney John Schmidt confirmed Tuesday that his office did not seek the dismissal. Schmidt said he told presiding Judge Patrick Kelley of the problem last week, as soon as a prosecutor discovered it while reviewing dockets. In a written statement, Kelley said Hall dismissed the case of his own accord after speaking with Perrin.