The stated purpose of the Judicial Districts Act of 2021 (JDA) “is to redraw the Judicial Districts to meet the requirements of the Illinois Constitution of 1970 by providing that outside of the First District the State ‘shall be divided by law into four Judicial Districts of substantially equal population, each of which shall be compact and composed of contiguous counties.’”  Several justices of the Illinois Supreme Court and appellate court do not reside in the judicial district, as redrawn by the JDA, to which they were elected or appointed.

In their article in the Illinois State Bar Association’s Bench & Bar newsletter entitled “Justices Denied? Impact of the Judicial Districts Act on Incumbent Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Court,” former ALA President Steven Pflaum and Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP summer associate Andrew Hamilton dissect the statutory and constitutional issues confronting Illinois justices who wish to run for retention but, due to redistricting by the JDA, no longer reside in the district to which they were previously elected.

Click here to read the article.