Illinois Supreme Court justice vacancy (December 2020)

Illinois Supreme Court
Kilbride vacancy
Date: December 7, 2020
Status: Seat filled
Nomination
Nominee: Robert L. Carter
Date: November 10, 2020

The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Robert L. Carter to the Illinois Supreme Court on November 10, 2020. His appointment was effective on December 8, 2020. Carter joined three other justices who were appointed, not elected, to the court.

As of December 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court was responsible for appointing an interim judge in the event of a midterm vacancy under Illinois law.

Carter succeeded Justice Thomas Kilbride, who left an open seat on the court after he was not retained on November 3, 2020. Receiving 56.5% of the vote, Kilbride did not meet Illinois' 60% threshold to remain on the bench. Click here for more information about the 2020 Illinois Supreme Court elections.

Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Illinois Supreme Court vacancy:

• An overview of the appointee.
• An overview of the selection process.
• Excerpts from media coverage of the nomination process.
• An overview of the court's makeup following the appointment.
• An overview of the justice who left office.
• An overview of the Illinois Supreme Court.
• A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2020.

The appointee

See also: Robert L. Carter

Carter was a judge of the Illinois Third District Appellate Court from 2006 to 2020. He was appointed to this position to succeed Judge Tobias Barry. Before that, Carter was a judge of the Illinois 13th Circuit Court from 1979 to 2006. He became the chief judge in 1993.

Carter obtained an A.B. in 1968 and a J.D. degree in 1974 from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He also received his M.A. in administration from Sangamon State University in 1974. Before attending graduate and law school, he served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970.

The selection process

See also: Judicial selection in Illinois

As of December 2020, Illinois used the following judicial selection process:

The Illinois Supreme Court was responsible for appointing an interim judge in the event of a midterm vacancy. The interim judge served until the next primary election occurring at least 60 days after their appointment, at which point the judge had to run in a partisan election to remain on the court.

Illinois Supreme Court justices were selected by popular vote in partisan elections and served 10-year terms, after which they had to stand for reelection in uncontested, nonpartisan retention elections to remain on the court.

Unlike most states, supreme court justices in Illinois were elected to represent specific districts. The seven justices were divided among five districts (three allocated to Cook County and the others divided evenly among the other four districts) and were voted into office by the residents of their respective regions. The only other states that used a similar system were Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Media coverage

Sarah Mansur, Peoria Journal Star (November 16, 2020):

“ Retired Judge David Hylla, former Chief Judge of the 3rd Judicial Circuit, said in an interview that although he feels that Kilbride’s departure is a loss for the Illinois Supreme Court, he believes Carter is an excellent choice to replace the outgoing justice. "Everybody that knows the judiciary in the state of Illinois knows who he is, and knows that he will do a fantastic job on the Supreme Court," said Hylla, a former chair of the Conference of Chief Circuit Judges. "First of all, he has a great personality, he really connects with people, and he's very likable – on a personal level. On a professional level, he's been involved in statewide administrative matters for a long time." Carter ran as a Democrat when he secured an elected seat on the 13th Judicial Circuit in 1988, after losing a race for a circuit judgeship in 1986. ... "Ruling on cases and being a judge is not a partisan matter. It's about following the law based on the facts," Carter said. Justice David K. Overstreet, a Republican who was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court on Nov. 3, echoed this sentiment as he said he fully supports the court’s decision to select Carter, which preserves the Democrats’ 4-3 majority on the Supreme Court. "It's a great day for Illinois courts when you have someone of (Carter’s) stature to be serving on the Illinois Supreme Court," Overstreet said in a phone interview. "The (political) party does not have any consideration in my work as a judge, nor in my assessment of (Carter) as a very outstanding judge with a great reputation." ”

Ray Long, Chicago Tribune (November 10, 2020):

“ The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday picked an interim justice to replace Justice Tom Kilbride, who lost a retention effort last week after coming under fire for his ties to Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. But Republicans who worked to defeat Kilbride slammed the move, saying the person selected is a longtime member of the judiciary who has held his position through the outgoing justice’s patronage. ... Former 3rd District Appellate Court Justice Kent Slater, a former Republican legislator from Macomb, said Carter had been Kilbride’s choice to hold an appointed seat on the appellate for several years. While appointments are made with support of the entire court, each justice will have a favored person for appointments in their district, and other justices generally honor those choices, said Slater, who said he served briefly on the appellate court with Carter. ... James Nowlan, who chaired a political committee that opposed Kilbride’s retention, said the Carter appointment "represents a continuation of the Kilbride legacy that voters rejected at the polls." "It’s an affront to voters," Nowlan said. "The exasperating thing about the appointment of Tom Kilbride’s patronage judge is that the more things change, the more they stay the same." ”

Amanda Vinicky, WTTW (November 10, 2020):

“ Carter’s pledge [to retire in 2022] means he’ll essentially serve as a placeholder until an election will be held to pick which judge will represent the district for another decade. Already, that race is gearing up to be an expensive, partisan battle that political observers predict will eclipse the money spent on Kilbride’s retention fight. Democrats hold a 4-3 majority on the court; Republicans see 2022 as their shot to tilt the court in their favor by winning the titling-red third district. ”

Joe Tabor, Illinois Policy (November 4, 2020):

“ In a historic defeat, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride appears to have failed to pass the 60% threshold needed to stay on the bench. The loss could tip the Democrats’ 4-3 majority on the court over to a Republican majority. ... If the result stands, that would make Kilbride the first sitting Illinois Supreme Court Justice to lose a retention bid since the practice was first adopted in 1964, according to the Daily Herald. Kilbride received only 56.4% of the vote to continue as the justice elected from the Third Judicial District, according to unofficial totals. The loss comes after a multimillion-dollar campaign battle between pro- and anti-Kilbride committees, including $550,000 from Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s Democratic Party of Illinois campaign committee. All told, Kilbride’s campaign collected over $5.5 million for this election. Kilbride’s opponents labeled him “Madigan’s favorite judge” in an effort to tie him to the speaker, who is facing a federal corruption probe and discipline from his House peers. Kilbride’s opponents, Citizens for Judicial Fairness, took in nearly $6.2 million. ”

Makeup of the court

See also: Illinois Supreme Court

Carter joined the following members on the Illinois Supreme Court:

■ Anne M. Burke		Elected in 2006
■ Michael Burke		Appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2020
■ Rita Garman		Appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2001
■ P. Scott Neville		Appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2018
■ David K. Overstreet		Elected in 2020
■ Mary Jane Theis		Elected in 2010

About Justice Kilbride

See also: Thomas Kilbride

Kilbride was a judge for the 3rd District of the Illinois Supreme Court from 2000 to 2020. He served as chief justice of the court from October 26, 2010, until October 25, 2013. Before joining the state supreme court, Kilbride worked as a lawyer in private practice.

Kilbride received his B.A. from Saint Mary's College in 1978 and his J.D. from the Antioch School of Law in 1981.

Political outlook

See also: Political outlook of State Supreme Court Justices

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.

Kilbride received a campaign finance score of -0.84, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -0.31 that justices received in Illinois.

The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.

2020 election

See also: Illinois Supreme Court elections, 2020

Kilbride's seat was up for retention election on November 3, 2020. The filing deadline was May 3, 2020.

Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District

Thomas Kilbride was not retained to the 3rd District of the Illinois Supreme Court on November 3, 2020 with 56.5% of the vote.

			Retention  Vote	%	Votes
			Yes	56.5	452,142
		✖	No	43.5	347,812
			Total Votes		799,954

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It has been certified. Source

The terms of two Illinois Supreme Court justices expired on December 7, 2020. A special election also took place to replace Justice Lloyd Karmeier (R) who retired December 6, 2020. Click here for more information about those elections.

Illinois Supreme Court

See also: Illinois Supreme Court

Founded in 1818, the Illinois Supreme Court is the state's highest court and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is P. Scott Neville.

As of December 2022, five judges on the court were Democrats and two judges were Republicans.

The court meets in the Illinois Supreme Court Building in Springfield, Illinois on the second Monday in September, November, January, March, and May.

In Illinois, state supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. There are eight states that use this selection method. To read more about the partisan election of judges, click here.

Other state supreme court appointments in 2020

See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2020

The following table lists vacancies to state supreme courts that opened in 2020. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.

Click here for vacancies that opened in 2021.

2020 judicial vacancies filled by appointment
Court	Date of Vacancy	Justice	Reason	Date Vacancy Filled	Successor
Washington Supreme Court	January 5, 2020	Mary Fairhurst	Retirement	December 4, 2019	Raquel Montoya-Lewis
Maine Supreme Judicial Court	January 2020	Donald Alexander	Retirement	January 6, 2020	Andrew Horton
Illinois Supreme Court	February 2020	Robert Thomas	Retirement	March 1, 2020	Michael J. Burke
Georgia Supreme Court	March 1, 2020	Robert Benham	Retirement	March 27, 2020	Carla W. McMillian
Iowa Supreme Court	March 13, 2020	David Wiggins	Retirement	April 3, 2020	Matthew McDermott
Washington Supreme Court	March 2020	Charles Wiggins	Retirement	April 13, 2020	G. Helen Whitener
Maine Supreme Judicial Court	April 14, 2020	Leigh Saufley	Retirement	May 10, 2021	Valerie Stanfill
Connecticut Supreme Court	May 27, 2020	Richard Palmer	Retirement	July 20, 2020	Christine E. Keller
Alaska Supreme Court	June 1, 2020	Craig Stowers	Retirement	July 1, 2020	Dario Borghesan
Hawaii Supreme Court	June 30, 2020	Richard W. Pollack	Retirement	November 19, 2020	Todd Eddins
Rhode Island Supreme Court	June 30, 2020	Gilbert Indeglia	Retirement	December 8, 2020	Erin Lynch Prata
Minnesota Supreme Court	July 31, 2020	David Lillehaug	Retirement	May 15, 2020	Gordon Moore
California Supreme Court	August 31, 2020	Ming Chin	Retirement	November 10, 2020	Martin Jenkins
New Jersey Supreme Court	August 31, 2020	Walter F. Timpone	Retirement	June 5, 2020	Fabiana Pierre-Louis
Texas Supreme Court	August 31, 2020	Paul Green	Retirement	October 15, 2020	Rebecca Huddle
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court	September 14, 2020	Ralph D. Gants	Death	November 18, 2020	Kimberly S. Budd
Kansas Supreme Court	September 18, 2020	Carol Beier	Retirement	November 30, 2020	Melissa Standridge
Georgia Supreme Court	November 18, 2020	Keith Blackwell	Retirement	December 1, 2020	Shawn Ellen LaGrua
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court	December 1, 2020	Barbara Lenk	Retirement	November 25, 2020	Dalila Wendlandt
New Mexico Supreme Court	December 1, 2020	Judith Nakamura	Retirement	December 19, 2020	Julie Vargas
Illinois Supreme Court	December 7, 2020	Thomas Kilbride	Was not retained	December 8, 2020	Robert Carter
Rhode Island Supreme Court	December 31, 2020	Francis Flaherty	Retirement	December 8, 2020	Melissa Long
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals	December 31, 2020	Michael Keasler	Retirement	December 21, 2020	Jesse McClure

See also

Illinois	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in Illinois Illinois Appellate Court Illinois Supreme Court	Elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in Illinois	Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links

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• Illinois Supreme Court

Footnotes

Illinois courts

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Federal courts:

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of Illinois, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Illinois • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of Illinois, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Illinois

State courts:

Illinois Supreme Court • Illinois Appellate Court • Illinois Circuit Court

State resources:

Courts in Illinois • Illinois judicial elections • Judicial selection in Illinois