By Hon. James M. McGing (ret.)
For generations, Chicago’s Irish American community has helped build the city’s legal institutions. From the late 19th century onward, Irish immigrants and their descendants supplied lawyers, prosecutors, public defenders, and judges who shaped the administration of justice in Cook County and the surrounding counties. Figures such as Judge Joseph Burke, born in County Mayo and later the longest-serving member of the Illinois Appellate Court, embodied a tradition of public service that continues today. Irish Americans remain active across private practice, government service, and the judiciary, contributing experience and continuity to a court system that decides cases involving families, businesses, crime, housing, and civil rights.
That tradition makes this November’s judicial retention election particularly relevant to the community. On November 3, Cook County voters will decide whether 60 sitting judges—59 Circuit Court judges and one Appellate Court justice—should continue serving. Voters throughout Illinois will also be voting for their local judges’ retention. A number of Irish American judges are among those seeking retention in Cook County, including Judges Patricia Fallon, John Mulroe and Dan Maloney who have been active in the Irish American community for decades. These judges, like their colleagues, have already been evaluated by bar associations. The Chicago Bar Association found every Irish American Judge sitting for retention Qualified, and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois has also recommended the retention class.
Each of the Irish American Judges have also become members of a new Judicial organization- The Brehon Judges Association. An organization dedicated to uniting Chicago-area judges of Irish descent to celebrate Celtic heritage, honor the legacy of early Irish breitheamh (judges), and promote cultural fellowship.
Retention elections work differently from the partisan contests that first place judges on the bench. Circuit Court judges are elected to six-year terms. When a term ends, the judge does not face an opposing candidate. Voters instead answer a straightforward question: Shall the judge be retained in office? A “Yes” vote keeps the judge for another six years; a “No” vote removes the judge at the end of the current term. To remain on the bench, a judge must receive at least 60 percent of the votes cast on that particular question. The retention questions appear toward the back of the ballot, after the better-known federal, state, and local races. Because there is no opponent and little campaign advertising, many voters simply stop before they reach them.
Skipping these questions has consequences. Experienced judges who have already been screened by the organized bar can lose their seats not because voters rejected their records, but because too few people cast ballots on the retention questions. The Irish American community has a direct stake in preventing that outcome. The same community that has long supplied capable lawyers and judges to Cook County can help ensure that those who have earned the confidence of the bar associations remain on the bench.
Four of the judges seeking retention—Patricia Fallon, Megan Goldish, Jill Rose Quinn, and Maura McMahon Zeller—recently participated in an educational delegation to Northern Ireland focused on justice and the role of legal institutions in societies emerging from division. These ties reflect a continuing engagement with issues of justice, reconciliation, and institutional trust that matter both here and abroad.
On November 3, take the extra moment required to reach the judicial retention section at the back of the ballot. Vote “Yes” for the Irish American judges listed above and for the other qualified judges seeking retention. Doing so continues a long record of Irish American civic engagement and helps maintain an experienced, independent judiciary capable of administering justice fairly.
Irish Americans on the Bench: A Call to Support Judicial Retention
