To Community Leaders and Voters Throughout Cook County:
We are retired judges who had the pleasure of serving with Justice Mary Lane Mikva. We write to enthusiastically support Justice Mikva for election to the Illinois Appellate Court.
Justice Mikva has been an outstanding member of the judiciary throughout her almost 20 years on the bench. She is hard working, compassionate, intelligent, thoughtful and collaborative.
Justice Mikva spent six years in the Child Protection Division where she worked hard to improve the lives of both children and parents. She was instrumental in raising awareness about unplanned pregnancy among youth in foster care and work judges could do in this area. She was heavily involved in training for both lawyers and court personnel and worked on a national level to improve child protection practices.
Justice Mikva then spent six years assigned to the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court. In this position, she handled some of the most complicated and challenging cases to come before the circuit court, including cases on pension reform and underfunding, legislative remaps and large class actions. She continued to be involved in lawyer and judicial training and worked on improved access to the courts for self-represented litigants.
In 2016, the Illinois Supreme Court tapped Justice Mikva for assignment to the Illinois Appellate Court. In that role she has been Presiding Judge of the First, Second and Sixth Divisions and served on the Executive and Settlement Committees. She has presented at judicial conferences, judged numerous moot courts, taught at Cook County jail, helped to craft the supreme court rules for appeals under new criminal justice reform statutes and worked on training and fair compensation for lawyers representing parents in child protection cases.
Because there have now been a number of vacancies on the court, Justice Mikva must be elected to retain her seat. The bar, bench, and people of Illinois should take comfort and pride in the fact that Justice Mikva serves on the Appellate Court. We would all do well to have her continue to serve in that capacity.
| Hon. Thomas Allen (ret.) | Hon. Kathleen G. Kennedy (ret.) |
| Hon. Helaine L. Berger (ret.) | Hon. Patricia Brown Holmes (ret.) |
| Hon. Andrew Berman (ret.) | Hon. John Huff (ret.) |
| Hon. Maureen Connors (ret.) | Hon. Mary Anne Mason (ret.) |
| Hon. James R. Epstein (ret.) | Hon. Rita M. Novak (ret.) |
| Hon. Rodolfo Garcia (ret.) | Hon. Daniel J. Pierce (ret.) |
| Hon. Moshe Jacobius (ret.) | Hon. Warren D. Wolfson (ret.) |