Jump to full article: Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer, 2006-02-08
Author: Norma Mendoza
Intro: Public interest groups see conflict of interest Three public interest groups on Tuesday called for the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board to investigate Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier's participation in and casting of a decisive vote on the two largest class action judgments in Illinois history.
According to the petition for investigation, the groups claim that Karmeier's vote to overturn the $1.05 billion St. Clair County verdict against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance and the $10 billion Madison County verdict against Philip Morris could be viewed as a nice return on their donations to his 2004 election campaign for the Supreme Court.
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Common Cause, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) and Citizen Action/Illinois (CAI) filed the request Tuesday morning stating that an Illinois Supreme Court Justice or any other justice or judge has an obligation to recuse himself or herself from a case in which the judge's impartiality may be questioned.
"The heart of the matter in this case is the appearance that a decision was purchased," said Todd Dietterle, chairman of the board of Illinois Common Cause.
"The residents of this state are entitled to know why Justice Karmeier acted as he did. Beyond the immediate need for review, this case screams out the need to change how we select judges in Illinois." . . .
the request alleges that Karmeier also received millions of dollars from groups affiliated with Philip Morris USA, its parent company Altria, and Philip Morris' lawyers, its amici and their lawyers while the Price v Philip Morris case was pending appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court. . . .
Plaintiffs in the Philip Morris case did not formally ask Karmeier to recuse himself, but the petitioners claim he had an obligation to do so to avoid the appearance of impropriety which is not dependent on a motion by the litigant.
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