A group of black leaders denounced the ascension of a white sheriff’s office staffer to a Cook County judgeship, demanding on Friday that Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke reverse her nomination for a post that represents a broad patch of Chicago’s West Side and some neighboring suburbs.
Frustration has consumed segments of the city’s African American political community in the week since Cara Smith, a widely known policy adviser to Sheriff Tom Dart, was named to fill a seat in the county’s seventh judicial subcircuit following the retirement of Judge Marianne Jackson, who is black.
A group of religious figures, community activists and West Side Ald. Jason Ervin called Smith’s appointment illegitimate, arguing her selection was the product of a secretive process. Now those officials hope to challenge Smith during next year’s election.
“We will not sit idly by and allow the Burkes to once again disrespect our community and stagnate progress in Chicago and hinder race relations like they have a history of doing,” the Rev. Ira Acree said. “The appointment of Cara Smith engenders and perpetuates Chicago’s tragic narrative of a tale of two cities.”
Justice Burke defended Smith’s appointment in a rare statement this week, while a Supreme Court spokesman said the justice would not seek to rescind or delay a decision that goes into effect Monday.
“The appointment process is a fair and open system,” Burke said. “Having qualified judges is in the best interests of public safety and promotes confidence in the justice system.”
Smith said she had no plans to step aside and declined further comment. That means Smith’s opponents likely are left to oppose her in the 2020 election.
“We want someone who is African American to hold that seat,” Acree said. “It’s been our seat, and we don’t want to let it go.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined to step into the fray.
“I absolutely get the idea that you need to have diversity in the judiciary, particularly when you’re talking about criminal matters and when you look at who is most likely to be a defendant,” Lightfoot told reporters on Friday. “But I think that’s really something that’ll be played out between Justice Burke and elected officials on the West Side.”
The controversy is rooted in a 1990s system that has voters elect some county judges from 15 geographical areas, known as subcircuits. Supporters expected the effort to offer ethnic minorities and Republicans a better chance at winning seats, though critics worried it would invite unqualified candidates and spread a new layer of political influence onto an independent judiciary.
Subcircuit judgeships often are regarded today as prized territory in a black community battered by Chicago’s enormous history of racial division and law enforcement discord.
“The face of justice matters. The experiences that a justice brings to the bench matters and determines the measure of justice that we can expect,” the Rev. Marshall Hatch said.
Still, state Supreme Court justices fill subcircuit vacancies on an interim basis. Some African American leaders said Burke’s choice reminded them of her husband, indicted Chicago Ald. Edward Burke, and his onetime control over judicial candidate nominating — plus his efforts to resist former Mayor Harold Washington’s agenda during the racially tinged Council Wars of the 1980s. The alderman earlier this month pleaded not guilty to federal public corruption charges.
“To me, it looks as if they were looking not to appoint someone of color to this position,” Ervin said.
Justice Burke said Ervin asked her last year to appoint attorney and former state Rep. Pamela Reaves-Harris to the post. Reaves-Harris was one of 12 candidates who applied to a judicial selection committee led by attorney Kevin Forde.
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Ervin’s wife, city Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, replaced Reaves-Harris in the state legislature.
According to Burke, the selection committee and a Chicago Bar Association panel concluded Reaves-Harris was not a qualified candidate. Instead, Forde said Smith was one of five hopefuls who advanced to a confidential interview process with Burke’s selection panel and ultimately the Supreme Court justice herself.
Burke then nominated Smith for the job. Burke first said the Supreme Court voted unanimously to support her nomination, though she reversed herself on Friday to note Justice P. Scott Neville did not participate in the vote.
“The Illinois Supreme Court is committed to appointing the highest qualified individuals to circuit court vacancies,” Burke said in her statement.
Tribune reporter Gregory Pratt contributed
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