Oh, the sheer delight in a lawsuit caption that names Illinois Supreme Court justices as personal defendants—it’s like Christmas for anyone who despises judicial overreach. Enter Judge James R. Brown, the retired Illinois jurist who got politically kneecapped by these robed tyrants. Last year, they dusted him off and reinstated him temporarily to plug a bench vacancy in Cook County. But then—gasp!—two left-wing outfits whined about a column he penned while blissfully retired.
What scandalous drivel did he unleash? A tame takedown of “lawfare,” that slimy tactic where courts get weaponized for political vendettas, mostly by the left against the right. He cheered its rollback. Shocking stuff, right? Not really, but it triggered the cancel brigade. We even wrote about his political assassination.
Irony alert: These snowflakes, offended by anti-lawfare rants, deployed… lawfare! They dashed off complaints to the Democratic-dominated Illinois Supreme Court, and poof—the justices obliged with a one-sentence guillotine on January 26. No hearing, no notice, no rebuttal. Just a smug, Star Chamber-style execution of Brown’s First Amendment rights and due process. Because who needs the Constitution when you’ve got a mob to appease?
Now, Brown’s firing back in federal court, suing the justices personally. Smart move: His complaint shreds their judicial immunity claim, arguing they acted like rogue bureaucrats, not judges. The Illinois Constitution demands impeachment or a public hearing for removals—luxuries they denied him while unilaterally yanking his robe. Represented by the Liberty Justice Center, he’s demanding reinstatement, injunctions, and sweet, sweet monetary damages. Yes, that means the individual justices are going to have to come out of pocket to hire their own lawyers to defend them from the “individually” aspect of this lawsuit. Even if they win, their wokeness is gonna cost them.
Like Rochford, pictured above during her campaign for the Illinois Supreme Court.
Make no mistake: These Illinois Supremes aren’t justices; they’re a kangaroo court cabal, a modern Star Chamber drunk on power, trampling free speech and fairness. We can only hope they get dragged through the mud, lose spectacularly, and slink away in maximum humiliation. Justice served—with a side of schadenfreude.
There’s something uniquely pleasing in just the caption of a lawsuit filed Wednesday by Judge James R. Brown. It’s that Illinois Supreme Court justices are named personally as defendants.
P. SCOTT NEVILLE, JR., individually and
in his official capacity as Chief Justice
of the Illinois Supreme Court, MARY
JANE THEIS, individually, DAVID K.
OVERSTREET, individually and in his
official capacity as Justice of the Illinois
Supreme Court, LISA HOLDER WHITE, individually and in her official capacity
as Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court,
JOY V. CUNNINGHAM, individually and
in her official capacity as Justice of the
Illinois Supreme Court, ELIZABETH M.
ROCHFORD, individually and in her
official capacity as Justice of the Illinois
Supreme Court, MARY K. O’BRIEN, individually and in her official capacity
as Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court,
and SANJAY T. TAILOR, in his official
capacity as Justice of the Illinois
Supreme Court,
Brown, as we wrote earlier this month, was politically assassinated. The retired Illinois judge had been temporarily reinstated last year to fill a vacancy on the bench. But when two left wing organizations complained this year about a column he had written while retired, the Illinois Supreme Court unceremoniously rescinded his reinstatement. Brown’s column was fully within his First Amendment rights and it was, in many ways, unremarkable. It condemned recent examples of “lawfare” — misuse of the courts for political and social goals — and celebrated how the misuse is being rolled back…
Brown has now sued in federal court alleging those constitutional violations. The defendants are the justices. That’s appropriate because it was they who lowered the axe on Brown. Brown’s complaint is specific about why the justices should not be immune. To be protected from personal liability by judicial immunity, judges must have acted within their judicial capacity, the complaint says. But in this case, it says, “The individual Defendant Illinois Supreme Court justices acted outside their judicial capacity by unilaterally removing Judge Brown from the Cook County Circuit.” The Illinois Constitution strictly limits how sitting judges may be removed—only through impeachment or after notice and a public hearing by the Illinois Courts Commission.
Details on the lawsuit are provided here by the Liberty Justice Center, which is representing Brown. The complaint requests the federal court to issue injunctions that would reinstate brown and to award monetary damages.
Make no mistake about what happened here: Justices on lllinois’ top court ran a Star Chamber. They personally comprised a cancel mob and acted in blatant disregard of constitutional rights to due process and free speech. We can only hope they lose the lawsuit with maximum humiliation.
