The Illinois Supreme Court has chosen an attorney to be a Cook County circuit judge even though he lacks jury trial experience and most local bar groups find him unqualified.
Some local bar leaders frowned Friday upon learning of the selection of Furmin Sessoms, a supervisor in the Cook County public defender’s office.
“We’ve never seen anybody with these kinds of ratings who has ever been appointed,” said Dan Coyne, vice president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a public-interest bar association. “To put someone on the bench who is not qualified … does not serve the public interest.”
Mark Dupont, a member of the executive committee of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening, an umbrella group of bar associations that evaluate candidates, also expressed concern.
“There are so many judicial candidates who are unanimously viewed as well-qualified for the bench,” he said. “It’s disappointing to see the Supreme Court appoint someone who so many of our bars view as unqualified.”
Sessoms could not be reached for comment Friday. However, he won the recommendation of three bar groups, including the Chicago Bar Association, which called him an “experienced practitioner” who is “well-regarded for his integrity and outstanding temperament.”
Seven other bar groups, however, found him unqualified for the bench.
During the last month, Sessoms’ candidacy has triggered an unusual series of letters between court officials and officials of the Alliance of Bar Associations. The Tribune obtained copies of the letters.
In one exchange on Aug. 7, court officials asked for more information on why alliance members rejected Sessoms. But alliance officials balked at the request in an Aug. 20 response, saying they promised confidentiality to lawyers who provided them with information about the candidates.
That answer wasn’t good enough, Justices Charles Freeman, Thomas Fitzgerald and Anne Burke replied on Aug. 27.
“Your refusal to honor our express request for [information], particularly on the basis cited, [affects] the credibility of the evaluation and, frankly, gives us pause,” the justices wrote. “Even more importantly, however, it renders near impossible Mr. Sessoms’ ability to mount any credible appeal.”
The state’s highest court appointed Sessoms on Thursday to succeed retired Judge Bernetta Bush, effective next week.
Freeman declined to comment through Supreme Court spokesman Joseph Tybor. Fitzgerald and Burke could not be reached for comment.
Justices use various methods to find interim judges. Some create committees to help evaluate candidates. Tybor declined to comment Friday on how Sessoms was chosen.
The court is committed to finding high-quality candidates, Tybor said. In this instance, “the court expressly asked the alliance for their reason or reasons why they found Mr. Sessoms not qualified,” Tybor said. “The alliance refused. And, as the letter stated, that cast a pall over the credibility of the evaluations.”
More Top Picks Soundcore P20i
It’s not uncommon for poorly rated judicial candidates to be elected to the bench if they have political support and good campaign organizations. But bar leaders have long hoped that the Supreme Court, which appoints about 30 judges a year to fill vacancies, would seek out only the best candidates.
Several bar leaders said Friday that the Supreme Court had enough information to reject Sessoms.
For instance, the Council of Lawyers made public a short summary of its evaluation before the court rendered its decision.
“Mr. Sessoms has no jury trial or appellate law experience and, despite his many years in the public defender’s office, has only tried misdemeanor cases,” the council said in the summary. “While he is to be praised for his community service and commitment to diversity, he has not demonstrated the legal ability or temperament necessary to be a judge.”
Dupont, an official with the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago, and Lonny Ben Ogus, an official with the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, said Friday that their groups provided the court with more information about Sessoms this week, but it apparently came too late.
Sessoms graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington in 1989. He served two stints as executive director of the Southside Chicago branch of the NAACP. Since 2004, he has been a deputy public defender and attorney supervisor in the public defender’s office.
Sessoms contributed $300 to Citizens for Stroger in 2005 and made additional contributions to the 8th Ward Regular Democratic Organization in the Stroger family’s home ward in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
In addition to the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the other alliance members that found Sessoms unqualified were the Asian-American Bar Association, the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago, the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.
In addition to the Chicago Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago and the Cook County Bar Association supported Sessoms.
———-