Chief Justice Fitzgerald retiring from Illinois high court
September 14, 2010
Illinois: Yesterday, Thomas R. Fitzgerald, the Chief Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court, announced his retirement effective October 25, 2010. He steps down from the court after receiving a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.[1]
Fitzgerald has served on the Supreme Court since 2000 and in 2008, became its Chief Justice. Prior to this, he was a judge on the Cook Judicial Circuit Court since 1987.[2]
A successor to Fitzgerald has already been named. Illinois Appellate Judge Mary Jane Theis was appointed to the Court and will serve an initial two-year term. She will join the high court the same day that Fitzgerald steps down.[1]
Like Fitzgerald did, Theis serves on the Cook Judicial Circuit. She has been a judge on the Illinois First District Appellate Court since 1994. Prior to that, she served as a municipal judge, then associate judge, then circuit judge in Cook County.[3]
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