Do you think she's a Democrat? The way to lose trust in the judicial system

Judge Cynthia Brim removed from the bench

Illinois Courts Commission says Cynthia Brim isn't fit to be a judge

The Illinois Courts Commission has done what Cook County voters did not: It removed Circuit Judge Cynthia Brim from the bench, saying she's unfit to preside over a courtroom.

Charged with misdemeanor battery on a sheriff's deputy, Brim was found not guilty by reason of insanity last year. She'd been arrested for shoving the officer outside the Daley Center in March 2012, a day after she interrupted her call in traffic court with a disturbing 45-minute rant about race, justice and "kahoonas." Ushered from her courtroom by a supervising judge, she was prohibited from returning without a police escort.

She's been suspended ever since, collecting her $182,000 salary. She told the commission in March that she's ready to return to work. "I can serve as a judge with full capability as long as I continue to take medication as prescribed," she testified.

The commission noted in its ruling that Brim had been hospitalized for psychiatric episodes five times since becoming a judge in 1994 and that she acknowledged she hadn't taken her medications or sought treatment for two years before her latest breakdown.

The ruling said Brim's mental issues interfered with her ability to do the job and that she "bears responsibility for not seeking the necessary treatment." So she's out.

Cook County voters knew few of the details of Brim's mental illness when she stood for retention in November 2012. But they had plenty of reasons to deny her another six-year term. It was the third time she'd stood for retention, and the third time local bar associations recommended a "no" vote based on her job performance.

In 2012, the Chicago Council of Lawyers noted "many complaints that Judge Brim is late to take the bench." Attorneys complained that she was "rude and unaccommodating of counsel who are on call in multiple courtrooms," that she was slow to rule and that her findings were unpredictable. Because of all that, attorneys "regularly file motions for substitution of judge, despite the cost and inconvenience to their clients." Yes, that's right: Lawyers did whatever they could to avoid her courtroom.

In 2010, Brim was one of four judges who were reassigned after spies from Fox Chicago News and the Better Government Association found they weren't working a full day.

Only a handful of judges get the "thumbs down" from the bar associations in a given election. Those evaluations are an enormous public service because voters typically have little firsthand knowledge of the judges they're asked to keep or discard. In 2012, there were 57 of them, way down at the end of the ballot.

In its campaign materials — including a robocall featuring Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle — the Democratic Party urged a "yes" vote on every single one of them, including Brim. That's not because all of them were outstanding jurists. It's because the politicians regard the court system as just another jobs program for party loyalists.

The Tribune urged a "no" vote on Brim and five others, based largely on the bar association screenings, and readers took note: Brim got 183,000 more "no" votes than the judge right above her on the ballot, a judge who'd received favorable ratings. But it wasn't enough.

It took two more years — and a judicial disciplinary proceeding — to bounce her from the bench.

It's a shame that Brim's mental health issues were aired so publicly. Blame that on party leaders, who repeatedly supported her bids for retention despite strong evidence that she couldn't do the job.

No Cook County judge has been denied retention since 1990. The incompetent ones stay on the job, tucked away in assignments where they are likely to do the least harm. Like, you know, traffic court.