Judges deserve another term
By:
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Three judges who sit in Champaign County Circuit Court – Harry Clem, Thomas Difanis and Arnold Blockman – are running in a retention election across the six-county (Champaign, DeWitt, Moultrie, Piatt, Douglas and Macon) Sixth Judicial Circuit. The News-Gazette endorses their continued service on the bench.
Clem is the longest serving of the three. He was a lawyer in private practice before being appointed as an associate judge in 1979. Since then, he was elected to the position of circuit judge and has performed admirably. During his long tenure, Clem has presided over both civil and criminal cases and earned a reputation as a thoughtful and careful jurist.
Critics suggest that he sometimes takes issues under advisement for longer periods of time than should be necessary. But that in no way detracts from his overall reputation as a fair, impartial and competent judge.
Difanis was appointed to the position of circuit judge in 1995 after a tenure of nearly 20 years as state's attorney in Champaign County. Those who expected him to bring a prosecutor's viewpoint to the bench have been pleasantly surprised by his evenhanded manner and calm demeanor. As a sign of the respect he has among his fellow judges, Difanis was selected to serve as the county's presiding judge even though he was not its longest-serving judge.
Blockman was elected to the bench in 1996 after building a stellar reputation as a lawyer in private practice. Since then, he has shown himself to be thoughtful, capable and hardworking, particularly adept in handling civil and family court issues.
It's not uncommon for lawyers elected to the bench to become full of themselves. So common is that syndrome that it's been given a name or two, "black robe syndrome" or "robitis." Happily, Clem, Difanis and Blockman have not succumbed to that temptation. They are now what they have been since ascending to the bench, hard-working judges who take their work, but not themselves, seriously. Each has earned retention to a six-year term.
In a related issue, Justice Sue Myerscough is running for retention to a 10-year term on the 4th District Appellate Court in Springfield. The court hears hundreds of legal appeals each year from a 30-county area that runs across the middle of the state from the Indiana to Missouri borders. There are six judges on the 4th District Appellate Court, and they hear cases in panels of three.
Before her election to the appellate court in 1998, Myerscough was a trial court judge for 11 years in Sangamon County, serving as the county's presiding judge during her final two years on the bench there. She has acquitted herself well on the appeals court. Whether she's the author of a majority opinion or filing a dissent, her legal writing is clear and well-argued. Myerscough, a Democrat elected in traditionally Republican turf, has earned retention to this important judicial office.