Chicago Humanities Festival... hmm!

Goodness, it's hyooge. The Chicago Humanities Festival is upon us. The events range widely. From Architecture and fashion to speculative fiction, including discussions like this one. The website is extremely effective if you don't use the Programs dropdown (too long!) -- instead, use the topic dropdown to find what interests you quickly.

Dang.

Judges and Illinois ballots 2004

Planning to vote in Illinois this election? (Please do if you're a resident.)

Expecting to be lost when you hit the mammoth judicial retention/selection portion? Who can know 74 judges and a fistfull of new candidates all that well? Well, there's hope.

The Chicago Bar Association puts out its member-driven Judicial Evaluation Committee Findings each year. They're online. They're not just "recommend" or not. They give solid reasons based on the feedback of the people who've dealt with these individuals in their professional capacities. While most are deemed quite professional in their conduct and capability, some few are not. Worth a read before going to the polls. A bad judge can make an expensive mess of the legal system, and can be your caricature-bad-litigator's wet dream, allowing a case that should be tossed to make it into the pipeline, the news, and the political gristmills. Have a good look.

Edit: Note the big top list is just the judicial RETENTIONS. Be sure to also look at the evaluations for new CANDIDATES, towards the bottom.