Now it’s Burke’s spouse who’s paying for his purely political ‘sins’

Is Anne Burke now as much a political … 

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, the spouse of the alderman now under criminal indictment, is coming under her own partisan fire from people upset with politics-as-usual – rather than actions meant to benefit themselves instead.

Burke is the alderman who is going to push to the limit a defense that his actions in the City Council are merely the way things get done. It seems his wife will wind up having to make the same arguments over-and-over.

… target as husband Ed?

FOR IN THE case of Anne Burke, she has the authority to make appointments to fill vacancies within the judiciary of Cook County. It would seem that she used her power to place people with whom she has political ties.

Which has more activist-types offended that Anne Burke didn’t give preference to “their” people instead of “her” people.

Her first offense occurred earlier this month when she used her authority to appoint a white attorney to be a judge in a sub-circuit meant to cover much of Chicago’s West Side. The intent when the sub-circuit was created in the 1990s was that it would somehow result in more judges of an African-American persuasion being picked.

Now, politicos of Latino ethnic origins are offended.

THEY SEE A different sub-circuit – one meant to cover city neighborhoods such as Pilsen, Little Village and Back of the Yards (all of which have become Spanish-speaking enclaves) and stretching out to Cicero. Where there also is a predominance of people who habla en Espanol.

Yet as various Latino aldermen and legislators are pointing out, that judicial post was given to Cara Smith, whose qualifications were serving as an aide to the Cook County sheriff’s police, where Sheriff Tom Dart is a long-time ally of Alderman Burke.

There also are signs that she gave Burke’s aldermanic re-election campaign last year a significant campaign contribution, which has those of a more criminally-conspiratorial mindset thinking she bought the judicial post. Anyway, she was sworn in to the post on Monday.

GARCIA: As critical of her as much as him

It wasn’t given to an attorney of Latino origins. For all I know, there were no such attorneys who were even considered for the post.

THE LATINO POLITICOS, including Rep. Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., who sent along a letter of support, are trying to make this an issue of ethnic prejudice, just as those interested in the initial appointment wanting to see it as a case of black political empowerment being undermined.

Of course, there’s also the fact that the Latino activist types tried seriously in the aldermanic elections this year to undermine Ed Burke and get him defeated from the City Council post he has held for half a century.

Garcia was prominently behind that effort – which failed, as voter turnout was particularly strong in the precincts of his ward that still have sizable white-ethnic populations – rather than the parts that have become solid Latino (mostly Mexican-American) neighborhoods.

So I don’t doubt this is partisan politicking, just as much as the Burkes’ activities may have its own political taint.

THEY COULDN’T BEAT him on Election Day (Ed solidly won re-election as alderman without a runoff, while Anne won a 10-year term to her Supreme Court post last year), so they’ll dredge up other dirt.

The image the alderman may be giving off

Which may, or may not, be true. In politics, “dirty pool” is downright fair – or to be expected – from all sides.

So I don’t doubt that much of these allegations is about trying to make up for Burke electoral victories – which some of those of an activist mentality likely regard as defeats for the good of the people. At least their people.

And taking a few pot shots at Ed Burke’s wife may hurt him just as much as anything they fire off directly at him. Although it does create the possibility that Burke will take great offense to Anne being criticized and could add people to his personal ‘enemies’ list.

WHAT’S THAT OLD cliché, remembered by many as a line from the film The Godfather? “Revenge is a dish that tastes best when it is served cold.”

The bottom line is that we could be in for an ugly political war, with Ed Burke doing his best to be none other than “Don Corleone” himself.

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Burke’s wife cleared, but Preckwinkle still reeks of stink from alderman cash

I’m sure there are those people who are going to be grossly offended that a Burke has been cleared of wrongdoing. Or at least legal types are conceding they can’t prove anything against her.

ANNE BURKE: Judge cleared of wrongdoing

Yes, her! For the Burke I’m referring to is Anne, as in the spouse of Alderman Edward M. Burke who, in her own right, serves as a justice on the Supreme Court of Illinois.

ILLINOIS JUDICIAL INQUIRY Board has been conducting its own investigation into a fundraiser that the Burkes held in their Chicago home for the now-failed mayoral aspirations of candidate Toni Preckwinkle.

The inquiry board was trying to determine if Anne Burke herself did anything inappropriate – as in engaging in conduct unbecoming a judge of any type. Particularly one sitting on the state’s highest court.

But it would seem she’s off the hook, so to speak. Nothing that could be deemed inappropriate. Except in the mini-minds of those individuals who want to believe that everything a government official does is wrong – and worthy of prosecution.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported this week about a letter saying the inquiry board had reviewed the matter and “determined to close” it. The letter gives no explanation of why the investigation is over – or any details of what it uncovered.

THE INQUIRY BOARD cited confidentiality rules as a reason for refusing to publicly disclose what it learned. Although Jeffery Orr, the son of now-former county Clerk David Orr and the man who filed the original complaint that got the inquiry board thrown into the mix, said he was “disappointed” by the ruling.

He seems more interested in getting nit-picking details that would further enhance the image of all things related to Burke as being inherently corrupt. Or as he told the Sun-Times, “Part of the problem in Illinois and Chicago is the secretive way of doing things.”

For what it’s worth, Anne Burke had no comment on the matter, although this decision comes close to the time that federal prosecutors let it be known that they want more time to investigate Alderman Ed himself.

PRECKWINKLE: Still being blamed for Burke

He will continue to have legal types probing his affairs – searching for evidence that he did something that can be construed as illegal. Although it seems anybody who was hoping for the Burkes to be taken down as a couple will be disappointed.

ALTHOUGH THE BURKE issue has already managed to inflict its harm on some political people – all the people disappointed that they couldn’t beat Ed Burke in his re-election bid back in February wound up taking it out on Preckwinkle.

Which accounts for that roughly three-quarters of the vote in the April runoff election going to Lori Lightfoot. Who herself insisted on continuing to smack Preckwinkle about for having accepted campaign contributions from people who were motivated by Ed Burke to do so!

Preckwinkle is insisting she has tried giving the money away to other sources, although Lightfoot claims Preckwinkle has kept the funds – which could wind up bolstering her efforts to remain politically relevant while serving as Cook County Board president AND as county Democratic chairwoman.

No doubt Lightfoot would rather see Preckwinkle wither away into irrelevance – and certainly not become a competing political figure. After all, with the way the electorate can be politically fickle, it could work out that many voters would come to the conclusion they voted for the wrong person back on April 2.

FOR WHAT IT’S worth, the Chicago Tribune contends that some $72,000 of the roughly $116,000 that Preckwinkle got from a Burke household fundraiser has yet to be returned.

ED BURKE: Guilt by association?

Not that Burke would be getting any money back. The usual way for political people to try to erase negative connotations to any contributions they receive is to give it to some charitable cause.

Which really doesn’t erase the fact that the money was received by the candidate in the first place. It just allows for a lot of self-righteous rhetoric by candidates who’d rather not be tagged for the sins committed by their political supporters.

Which is what Lightfoot most definitely wants to continue to happen in the case of Preckwinkle and Burke. If we can’t get the two Burkes put away somewhere, I’m sure those wanting to operate on ideological grounds will be more than glad to see Toni pay, in place of Anne Burke.

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EXTRA: Burke says "no" to recusal

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke told Crain's Chicago Business on Wednesday she has no intent of recusing herself from the high court's actions relating to Rahm Emanuel's worthiness to be on the mayoral ballot come the Feb. 22 elections.

Burke said that only does she have a mind of her own apart from her husband (implying that demands she recuse herself are sexist), I got a kick out of her comments recalling that  her husband (who is a Gery Chico backer) did not like it much when she worked for Illinois state government under then-Gov. Jim Edgar -- a Republican.

BUT SHE DID it anyway.

And now, that's one less element for the conspiracy theorists to take into account. Then again, those people are going to concoct a wild theory no matter what the state Supreme Court does with regard to the mayoral elections.

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Will she recuse herself? Anne Burke the focus of political observer attention

The Illinois Supreme Court, a legal body we’d  like to think of as august and impartial, is inherently a political animal. Now, they’re being put in a position to make a blatantly political ruling.

BURKE: What does she hear at home?



And, they’re being asked to issue it on the fly. A rush-job ruling that will impact our city for years, if not decades, to come.

THAT IS THE case with regards to the mayoral aspirations of Rahm Emanuel, who asked the state’s high court to hear his mayoral campaign's appeal that says an Illinois appellate court panel was wrong to remove him from the list of candidates running in the Feb. 22 municipal elections. The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a stay that restored him to the ballot -- at least until the high court decides what it wants to do.

The Chicago Tribune reported how two of the three judges on that panel got their original appointments due to the work of Alderman Edward Burke – who has made it clear in this election that he is a Gery Chico backer.

The implication being that those two judges repaid a political favor by issuing a ruling that supported Burke’s electoral desires. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they would have ruled the same regardless of Burke ties, but I wonder if the fact they waited five full days to issue their ruling (they heard arguments last week) was meant to reduce the amount of time that Emanuel could try to appeal.

There’s going to be an even bigger connection for Burke when the appeal goes to the state Supreme Court, where Burke’s wife, Anne, is one of the high court’s justices. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that she in the past has sat out cases involving Chicago election law, and already is hearing pleas from various legal groups that she should recuse herself – literally sit out this particular case, on the grounds that she is too biased to issue a fair ruling.

HALL: The reality of our system is ...

NOW I’M GOING to give judges some credit when it comes to court cases involving electoral politics. I do believe all except the most blatantly incompetent are capable of viewing the law above partisan political concerns. It is simple-minded to look at the letter (“D” or “R”) that follows a judge’s name and make knee-jerk predictions about how he/she will rule on Rahm Emanuel.



Except for when it happens, such as the once-a-decade ruling when maps creating political boundaries for legislative and judicial districts are reviewed by the high court. Those always seem to come down along partisan lines. 

Which is why I think it is naïve to believe the backers of Shelvin Louise Marie Hall – one of the two judges who on Monday gave Rahm Emanuel the Election Day boot – who say they couldn’t even remember if Burke, the alderman, did anything on her behalf to get her elected as a judge.



HOFFMAN: ... judges have political ties

Then again, one has to wonder what Burke has been hearing at home from her husband about this election cycle, and how much of that rhetoric comprises her thought process these days.

JUDGES ARE JUST as much creatures of the political system we have in this state as the people who are now demanding recusal. We all want a certain outcome and want the court conditions best likely to create it.



Insofar as those people who are now demanding that Burke step aside and let her six other colleagues on the state Supreme Court decide this case, I’m not sure it makes much of a difference. 

Because Rahm Emanuel is still going to have to convince four Supreme Court justices (out of seven) that the appellate court goofed on Monday. Eliminating Burke means four out of six. That may turn out to be very difficult.

The reality of the Illinois Supreme Court is that it is broken up regionally – and Chicago is dominant enough over the other regions of Illinois that we get the 4-3 Democrat/Republican partisan split.

THREE OF THE judges are from Cook County, actually all from the city proper. The other four are either from suburban areas or the other parts of the state that are probably sitting back and watching with bemusement the antics taking place in Chicago this week.

For all I know, they may well follow the whims of their own home regions that wouldn’t mind mucking things up in this electoral process. Which means I suspect the three judges from suburban DuPage, along with Danville and Nashville in Southern Illinois, aren’t going to be terribly sympathetic to the Election Day desires of the former White House chief of staff.

Now there is one Democrat on the Supreme Court from outside of Chicago. That would be Thomas Kilbride, the man who endured a serious challenge by GOP partisans in the last election cycle to dump him to shift the state Supreme Court to the Republicans.

He managed to keep his seat (for a 10-year term) in large part due to the work of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, who also has attorneys allied with him filing Emanuel’s appeal to the state Supreme Court. Combine them with the other two Chicago justices (Charles Freeman and Mary Jane Theis), and we get the potential for a “nice” 3-3 split.

THAT IS IF Anne Burke decides to recuse herself.

Personally, I’d just as soon have her sit in and take part in the high court’s decision. At least then she’d be on the record.

If we’re going to start concocting conspiracy theories about how Eddie Burke used the courts to kick his political opposition off the ballot, it would be better if we had something resembling a paper trail – rather than just our political paranoia – as evidence. Then, we can complain/rant/rage all we want for years to come.

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