Obit: Former top Cook Co. judge did prison time

WLS-TV reports:

With a shock of white hair atop his tall frame, broad shoulders and infectious smile, David J. Shields was one of the most well-liked jurists among legal colleagues and attorneys in Cook County. Judge Shields' disposition and popularity made his sudden downfall, during a notorious 1990 corruption scandal, even more of an oddity. Shields died Thursday at age 80. As head of the Chancery Court, he was once considered a shoo-in for chief of the Circuit Court of Cook County. An undercover FBI operation code-named Operation: GAMBAT interrupted Shields' rise to the top.

A corruption super-star passes.