ISBA News

Election results are in and Jessica A. O'Brien of Chicago has won a contested race for a seat on the Illinois State Bar Association's Board of Governors. Electronic voting was again the preferred method of voting - this time by a greater than 10-1 margin (1,451 electronic; 123 written). All terms begin at the 2012 Annual Meeting.

Umberto S. Davi of Willowbrook was the previously announced winner in the uncontested race for 3rd Vice President. He will become president of ISBA in 2015 after serving a year in each of the three vice presidential posts. Five Board members ran uncontested: James F. McCluskey (Lisle); Lisa M. Nyuli (South Elgin); Sonni Choi Williams (Peoria); Charles Y. Davis (Springfield); and Russell K. Scott (Belleville).

Here are the Board and Assembly election results (winners in bold):

Board of Governors - Cook County - 1 to be elected

Mark L. Karno, Chicago            667
Jessica A. O’Brien, Chicago        811

Early Booking Discount Extended! Save $500 per couple if you register by May 18!

Join President-elect John E. Thies and his wife Terry on the fall 2012 ISBA President’s Trip to China. Take a moment away from your busy day, close your eyes and picture yourself in a land steeped in thousands of years of history. Picture a place where the echoes of distant empires can still be heard above the urban roar of modern technology, where natural landscapes stand in stark and beautiful contrast to contemporary cityscapes. You are in a land rich in tradition and ripe with possibility.

See yourself in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Shanghai admiring the reflections of the city in the Huangpu River while strolling along the famous Bund. Listen to the chatter of colorful markets filled with unexpected treasures, savor the refined flavors of a dim sum lunch, and let the floral aromas of ancient gardens wash over you.

VR Election Services, ISBA’s election provider, has e-mailed e-ballots to members with valid email addresses and mailed paper ballots to members without email addresses. If you haven’t received your e-ballot, please check your email spam under the suffix vres.us. If your e-ballot is not in your spam folder, or if you received an electronic ballot and want to vote by paper ballot, please contact VRES at (800) 218-4026 or by email at custserv@vres.us.

Online voting ends at 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 30. Paper ballots must be received at VR Election Services in Texas by 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 30, 2012 in order to be counted.

Full election results will be available on Illinois Lawyer Now on Friday, May 4, 2012.

All members with their dues paid by March 1st are eligible to vote if there is a contested election in their area. The two contested elections are Cook County Board of Governors, and Cook County Assembly.

VOTE “NO” on HJRCA 29
Well-Intentioned but Flawed

HJRCA 29 is a constitutional amendment that creates standing for victims to participate in criminal proceedings as a party before the defendant’s guilt is established.

The Illinois State’s Attorneys’ Association and the Illinois State Bar Association oppose HJRCA 29. In its current form this proposal is unwise, unworkable, and unnecessary. We are concerned about its unintended consequences, such as court delays, longer incarceration awaiting trials, and wrongful convictions. HJRCA 29’s practical effect is that it will delay justice for victims by pitting prosecutors against victims instead of allowing them to be advocates for victims. That result isn’t helpful for victims or the public.

It is unwise. A criminal proceeding is a truth-seeking process that promotes public safety by adjudicating guilt and punishing the guilty. The awesome power to prosecute and imprison is vested with the government—not private parties. This means that victims and defendants are not contestants who require equal standing; the victim’s liberty and property are not at risk. But authorizing a victim to participate as a party with all of the standing of a prosecutor and defendant but none of their responsibilities, roles, and risks is a recipe for disaster. It is a return to the days of private, not public, justice.

It is unworkable. Illinois circuit courts annually process a staggering number of cases: