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Laura Sullivan
Laura Sullivan was a judge of the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois. She assumed office in 2002. She left office on December 31, 2022.
Sullivan ran for re-election for judge of the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois. She won in the retention election on November 3, 2020.
Education
Sullivan earned her J.D. from the Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1987.[1]
Career
From 1988 until her judicial election in 2002, Sullivan worked as an assistant state's attorney for Cook County.[2]
Elections
2020
Cook County Circuit Court, Retention election for Laura Sullivan
Laura Sullivan was retained to the Cook County Circuit Court on November 3, 2020 with 72.8% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
72.8
|
1,207,296 | ||
No |
27.2
|
450,639 | |||
Total Votes |
1,657,935 | ||||
|
|
2014
Sullivan was retained to the Cook Judicial Circuit Court with 75.6 percent of the vote on November 4, 2014. [3]
Evaluations
The Illinois State Bar Association rated Sullivan as Not Recommended for retention.[4]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Laura Sullivan did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Noteworthy cases
Man makes second appearance in court for sex crimes (2013)
Luis Pantoja appeared before Judge Sullivan in the summer of 2013, facing charges of criminal sexual assault. A 24-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted by Pantoja, who she picked out of a lineup as her attacker. However, Judge Sullivan made a finding of no probable cause, which effectively dismissed the case.
Questions about that case resurfaced later in 2013, due to another incident in which Luis Pantoja was a suspect. He was accused of the sexual assault and attempted murder of a 15-year-old girl in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood of Chicago on December 17, 2013. The girl was found beaten by police officers. She was also thought to be suffering from hypothermia. In the hospital, she underwent multiple brain surgeries and was even a coma. The bond for Pantoja was set at $2.5 million.
In documents for the first case, Sullivan did not explain her decision. However, when the alleged victim, a native Spanish speaker, was asked by the public defender if she "wanted to have sex with him and you wanted him to wear a condom," the woman answered "yes." This led to some confusion and prompted the public defender to ask the woman if she needed an interpreter. Sullivan asked the public defender to rephrase the questions and the hearing went on. In later interviews, the woman denied that the sex was consensual and stated, "I wanted an interpreter but they didn't bring one."[5][6]
In 2011, Pantoja had another run-in with the law for alleged sexual misconduct when he was accused of fondling a younger relative of his. The Cook County state's attorney's office declined to pursue the case at that time, however, because of conflicting statements from the victim as well as uncertainty about whether or not they could prove that Pantoja had experienced sexual gratification, which is a statutory requirement.[5]
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Chicago-Kent College of Law, "Iustitiam Servaverunt: Listing of Judges"
- ↑ Chicago Bar Association, "Green Guide to Judicial Candidates in Cook County," 2012
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "List of judges seeking retention in the November 4, 2014 general election," accessed May 8, 2014
- ↑ Illinois State Bar Association, "Judicial Evaluations," October 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chicago Tribune, "Suspect in attack on girl, 15, walked away in 2 other cases," January 8, 2014
- ↑ ABC Channel 7, "Belmont-Cragin sex assault suspect faced similar, dropped charges," January 7, 2014
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
