[Newspoetry] Homophobic Adoption Judge Reassigned

[Bill Wendling]

And now for some good news:

(From July, 1999 issue of Prairie Flame)

	Homophobic Adoption Judge Reassigned After Illinois Appeals Court
	Overturns Rulings

On June 3, a Cook County circuit judge, rebuked for interjecting her own
bias into two adption cases, was barred from hearing cases by the
county's chief judge, who said he took the step to "maintain the public's
confidence" in the court system.

Circuit Judge Susan McDunn, who had been assigned to Traffic Court, will
be given administrative duties in the court's 1st Municipal District,
Cook County Chief Judge Donald O'Connell said.

The Chicago Tribune reported that O'Connell was taking the action to make
sure the public was confident "that a judge who has decided cases without
regard to the law and the facts - and based instead on her own personal
predilections - will not be hearing cases."

O'Connell said McDunn's duties would be limited to reviewing petitions
from low-income litigants seeking a waiver of court fees or other
administrative tasks assigned to her by 1st Municipal Presiding Judge
Jacqueline Cox.

"I assume the Judicial Inquiry Board (which disciplines judges) will make
a determination as to whether to file a complaint," O'Connell said.
"Judge McDunn's status will be reviewed at that time."

McDunn could not be reached for comment.

McDunn's reassignment came two days after her handling of uncontested
adoption cases involving lesbian couples attracted the ire of the
Illinois Appellate Court.

The appeals court vacated the orders McDunn had issued in the two cases.
Appellate Court Judge Morton Zwick said McDunn's actions "discredited and
disgraced not only the judiciary but the citizens of Illinois."

Zwick said McDunn's "insensitive probing and wrongful interrogation"
about the couples' sexual practices "was clearly inappropriate." McDunn,
said the judge, "obviously had a predetermined bias against lesbians."

McDunn, according to papers filed in the appeal, provided confidential
material - including the names of the adoptive parents and the children -
to a conservative Washington, D.C., group that opposes adoptions by gay
and lesbian couples. McDunn also sought to have the organization added as
a party to the cases, according to court records.

McDunn also opposed directives from Judge Francis Barth, the presiding
judge of the Circuit Court division that oversees adoption cases, after
he removed her from the cases. Two months after Barth's action, McDunn
issued an order voiding her own removal and blocking Barth's approval of
one of the adoptions.

O'Connell said he waited to take action until the Appellate Court
provided validation for the move. McDunn was transferred to Traffic Court
in September.

O'Connell said in his order that state Supreme Court rules allow
reassignment of a judge who is "publicly implicated in coduct which, if
true, would constitute impropriety or an appearance of impropriety."

Cook County courts have allowed same-sex couples to adopt since 1995.
Caseworkers in the cases before McDunn "highly recommended" that the
adoptions proceed.

McDunn, who was elected to the bench in 1992, was retained by the voters
in November, although the Chicago Bar Association rated her as "not
recommended."

-- 
|| Bill Wendling			wendling at ganymede.isdn.uiuc.edu