Illinois Supreme Court rejects motion questioning its impartiality

The Chicago Reader reports:

And last month, when the Pinnicks' new attorney, Charles "Pat" Boyle, filed a motion asking the supreme court to hear the case, he coupled that to a fairly extraordinary request. He asked justices Thomas Fitzgerald, Charles Freeman, Robert Thomas, and Anne Burke to recuse themselves -- "as all Justices have received campaign contributions well in excess of $10,000 from Defendants or Defendants' counsel, experts and witnesses."

The motion cited Rule 63 of the Illinois Supreme Court, which says, "A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned," and identifies one such instance as a proceeding in which a judge, or the judge's spouse, "has an economic interest in the subject matter in controversy or in a party to the proceeding."

According to Boyle's motion, Fitzgerald has received over $52,000 from Corboy & Demetrio partners, Freeman $5,000, Thomas over $16,000, and Burke and her husband, Alderman Edward Burke, over $25,500.

But Boyle argued that the appearance of impartiality was sullied by more than money. In addition to those "substantial financial contributions," there were the "close and confidential relationships between Defendants and several Justices [and] Defendants' frequent invitations to Justices to participate in social gatherings, home and office visits."

In a footnote, Boyle pointed out that Philip Corboy Sr., the firm's founding partner, "as special counsel to the Illinois Democratic Party, has for years hosted parties to which several members of the Illinois Supreme Court are frequent invitees."

Impartial!