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Understanding the Daley, Vrdolyak, Judge Clare Elizabeth McWilliams law system.

Cook county justice system.jpg Quid Pro Quo in the Cook County Court System. Many people are scratching their heads when they see an admitted crook like fast Eddie Vrdolyak, walk away from a fair sentence for his violation of truth, justice, and the American way. When anyone goes in front of a court room, they invest time, money, and effort to persuade a judge and jury to their side. Many people cannot afford justice, but they feel so strong about an issue they are willing to go into debt to clear their name. Understanding the basics of how the Cook County Judicial System works can help you into making a decision into having a lawsuit or not. You must remember, many of the Judges feel they are perfect, keep the blindfolds on, and dispense justice without err. Phooey. The cold reality is the Quid Pro Quo, favors, backslapping, paybacks, or as we say on my website Clout, Chicago Clout. One of the ways to combat this is to become educated, informed, and diligent in your efforts to make sure you have an equal chance to have the law upheld. Many judges should remove themselves from cases, but they do not. Human nature is to side with those who helped us, and there lies the problem. I started thinking about this when I received a call from David Glowacz, a bright journalist whom accused me of being a journalist. My content might be accurate and interesting, but to become a real journalist is to learn the behind the scene rules that are the icing on the cake. Just like a court room, the real deals are made behind the judge's chambers. I want you to know I do believe in our system of laws, but we need to find a way to remove politics and favors. A great example is Judge Clare Elizabeth McWilliam, a judge with a great Irish name; she is from the north side of Chicago. I politely called her clerk Virginia and talked to a Jim from her office. Well I just got a message from her clerk Virginia and found out the great indignation of not receiving a call from the judge to discuss matters that concern the public. The judge was too busy, and then through the grapevine I found out Clare did not want to be on my cable show. Remember when a friend coughed into their hand and said B.S."? I was going through Clare's Itemized Expenditures for her campaign to become judge. I want to "Clarify" why certain political operatives show up time after time. I wanted to know what the going rate to become a judge was and what is expected from Chicago unions and local politicians to finance their campaigns. I wanted to know what the going rate is to get signatures on a cook county ballot, is the old rate of a dollar per signature fair, or is the current rate of two or three dollars inline. Many real Chicago Journalists might not want to tackle this issue, but now is the time and place. Look at all the players and political operatives that had something to do with Judge Clare Elizabeth McWilliams's campaign, what do they expect, justice? Patrick McDonough.

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Cops: Man walked into alderman's office with knife
December 11, 2009 9:14 AM |
A Far South Side man armed with a knife walked into the office of Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) in the Roseland neighborhood and made threats against her Thursday morning, police say.
Austin was not in the office, and no one was injured.
Julius Jenkins, 37, of the 200 block of West 111th Street, was charged with threatening a public official, a felony, and misdemeanor aggravated assault, said Chicago Police Officer Laura Kubiak, a department spokeswoman.
Jenkins walked into the office in the 500 block of West 111th with a small knife about 11 a.m. Thursday and made the threats against her, Kubiak said.

Jenkins then fled, but a witness provided police with his description, Kubiak said. Jenkins was arrested a short time later.

Kubiak could not say why he threatened Austin. The alderman could not be reached for comment.

Jenkins is due to appear for a bond hearing this afternoon in Cook County Criminal Court.

Judge: No jail makes Vrdolyak fraud seem 'trivial'
APPELLATE COURT | Posner questions why former alderman got no prison time for fraud
December 11, 2009

BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter nkorecki@suntimes.com
An appellate judge on Thursday ripped the probation sentence given to former Chicago Ald. Ed Vrdolyak for fraud, saying, "A sentence like that really depreciates the significance of the crime."

Appeals Judge Richard A. Posner questioned at length why Vrdolyak got no prison time even though he pleaded guilty to fraud involving the sale of a Gold Coast medical school building.

"It just makes the crime seem trivial," Posner said of the sentence.

His comments came as prosecutors presented their argument for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the light sentence and send the case back to U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur for resentencing.

In sentencing Vrdolyak, 71, Shadur had said he gave him probation in part because of the overwhelming number of letters he'd received offering character references for the former Chicago City Council powerhouse -- including one from Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Niewoehner had urged Shadur to send Vrdolyak to prison for as long as 41 months.

"This business with the letters -- a person like that could generate 1,000 letters," Posner told Vrdolyak's lawyers.

Barry A. Spevack, an attorney for Vrdolyak, said the letters showed there's another side to his client.

"Does that offset all the ethical violations in your client's history?" Posner asked, referring to ethical charges against Vrdolyak in his time as an attorney.

Vrdolyak pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the $15 million sale of a Gold Coast building belonging to the former Chicago Medical School, now called the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Vrdolyak schemed with school board member Stuart Levine to split a $1.5 million kickback from the sale of the building to Smithfield Properties Development.

Levine became a cooperating witness in the government's probe of the deal and wore a wire on Vrdolyak. The sale went through, but the kickback never happened once Levine's cooperation became public.

At one point Thursday, Posner suggested that prosecutors seek to move a resentencing to another judge, saying Shadur had made up his mind. "You're not going to get anywhere with Judge Shadur," Posner said.

A three-judge panel of the Chicago appeals court -- which in addition to Posner also includes Judges David Hamilton and Daniel Manion -- did not immediately rule on the appeal of Vrdolyak's sentence. It's likely that a decision won't come until next year.

Pat, what ever became of your best friend who got that.... (Response) I am not sure.