James M. Radcliffe, St. Clair County Associate Judge

JAMES M. RADCLIFFE was an associate judge on the St. Clair County Circuit Court for two decades prior to his retirement in 2007. The Illinois Courts Commission suspended Radcliffe for three months for conduct that the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Seventh Circuit had described as a “parody of legal procedure.” He receives an annual pension of nearly $150,000. What the judge did:  On September 1, 1992, Judge Radcliffe required an agent of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission to testify about an ongoing investigation into the use of video poker machines owned by Thomas Venezia for illegal gambling at a local VFW Post. The agent, Bonds Robinson, was at the St.