Washington, DC— Today, the nation's first comprehensive study of the systems that hold state and federal judges accountable ranked Illinois 13th in the nation and issued the state's program a C grade. To shine a light on the typically secretive and toothless systems that often fail to remove abusive and incompetent judges from the bench, legal consumer watchdog group HALT, Inc. released its 2008 Judicial Accountability Report Card, analyzing programs in all 50 states, D.C. and the federal circuits.

"Illinois' system of judicial oversight could be improved by allowing the public to more meaningfully participate in the process of disciplining judges," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder, who noted that the state's Judicial Inquiry Board is composed of just five judges and two non- judges, who can be either attorneys or laypersons.

While the Inquiry Board's Web site is easy to navigate and provides links to the state's Judicial Conduct Code, the site lacks a clear explanation of the disciplinary process and a database of past ethics rulings against judges. "Without online resources like these, the public has very little guidance about how to file a judicial ethics complaint or how to determine if a judge has a history of misconduct," stated Blonder.

Additionally, Illinois Supreme Court rules fail to place meaningful limitations on the reimbursement and compensation that judges may accept in connection with trips funded by corporate and special interests. "Illinois' laws include massive loopholes that allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime," stated Blonder.

However, HALT did note that unlike requirements in many states, Illinois rules allow consumers to speak publicly about ethics complaints against judges. "To ensure that the system is operating as it should, states across the country should adopt Illinois' model of permitting complainants to disclose information about the progress of their complaints," explained Blonder.

None of the top five states-Washington, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Arizona and California-scored higher than a B average on the Report Card. More than half of the states received grades in the C range and HALT issued D's to 14 jurisdictions. Two states-Maine and Mississippi-flunked outright.

"At a time when the American public has lost faith in the impartiality and fairness of the nation's judiciary, it's critical that we have an effective system of oversight for judges," stated Blonder. "We hope that Illinois' chief judicial officers will work to transform a mechanism marred by secrecy into a system dedicated to upholding the integrity of the judiciary."