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Injustice Watch Staff

Our team of investigative reporters, editors, residents, and interns examine issues of equity and justice in the Cook County court system.

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Posted inBad Judgment

Michael J. Chmiel, McHenry County Circuit Court Judge

Michael J. Chmiel was appointed to a circuit court post in 2004 and then, two years later, won election when McHenry County was shifted into a newly-created 22nd Illinois district. In February, 2008, the Judicial Inquiry Board filed a complaint against Chmiel, based on his actions in holding an emergency bond hearing for the brother of a political ally, after a series of private conversations. In November, 2010, the courts commission reprimanded Chmiel over those conversations.
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Posted inBad Judgment

James T. Doyle, Kane County Circuit Judge

James T. Doyle was first named a Kane County Associate Judge in 1989; three years later, he was elected as a Circuit Judge. In 2000, Doyle helped launch the county’s drug court. But in February, 2005, the Judicial Inquiry Board alleged that Doyle had systematically violated the rights of criminal defendants in his drug court, among other acts of judicial misconduct. The charges were dismissed when Doyle resigned from the bench while the charges were pending. Doyle last registered to practice law in 2012 and is now retired, collecting $128,257.08 in his pension this year.
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Posted inBad Judgment

Cynthia Brim, Cook County Circuit Judge

In 2012, Brim was charged with battery of a Cook County Deputy Sheriff over an incident at the Daley Center, an event that led to a Judicial Inquiry Board complaint that she was unfit to serve as a judge. The Illinois Courts Commission accepted the recommendation of the Judicial Inquiry Board and removed Brim in 2014, finding that her actions “brought the judicial office into disrepute and demeaned the integrity of the judiciary.”
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