Saggy-pants-jailing judge is reassigned; voters retained her despite 'no' recommendations
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A Chicago judge accused of wielding her contempt powers to toss 30 people in jail won’t be hearing misdemeanor and ordinance cases in criminal court any more.
The judge, Gloria Chevere, will be reassigned to “civil, nonjury/administrative matters,” according to a news release cited by the Chicago Tribune and Medill Watchdog at Northwestern University.
The action followed an investigative report by WGN TV and Medill Watchdog that found Chevere sent 30 people to jail for direct criminal contempt over a four-year period. In eight cases, the defendants were sent to jail for their saggy pants, the report found.
Chicago Magazine reports that Chevere was reassigned once before. “In 2010,” the magazine says, “Chevere was shuffled around and given a mentor after Fox Chicago and the [Better Government Association] found four judges leaving work early; they recorded Chevere in her backyard two hours before court was scheduled to close.”
Voters retained Chevere in 2012 despite “no” recommendations by the Chicago Council of Lawyers and the Chicago Bar Association, according Chicago Magazine. Three other judges who got no recommendations were also retained, including Judge Cynthia Brim, who had been barred from the courthouse stemming from her alleged shoving of a deputy. After the election, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was removed from the bench by the Illinois Courts Commission.
Hat tip to the Marshall Project.
