Judicial Council of the Seventh Circuit upheld Circuit Judge’s dismissal of complaints against three circuit judges for implicit bias toward police profession

On Friday, December 16, 2022, the Judicial Council of the Seventh Circuit ruled on the complainant’s petition for review of the memorandum and order entered by Circuit Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner on October 17, 2022, dismissing a complaint for judicial misconduct charges against three circuit judges.

The case is styled as ‘In Re Complaint Against Three Judges’ with Case Nos. 07-22-90100 through -90102.

A judicial complaint was filed by the complainant accusing three circuit judges of misconduct. The complainant alleges that the judges’ decision on appeal implies an implicit bias toward the police officer profession, does not understand the consequences of the “Blue Wall of Silence”, and failed to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and enforcement guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The complainant further alleged that the judges denied him federal and state whistleblower protections, and did not afford him rights under the National Labor Relations Board or the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.

Judge Rovner dismissed the complaint stating that the complainant’s allegations concern the merits of the judges’ decision, thus, were not proper grounds for a misconduct complaint. Moreover, Judge Rovner ruled that the allegations of implicit bias of the subject circuit judges are unsupported and must be dismissed.

The dismissal of the complainant’s judicial complaint was pursuant to § 352(b)(1)(A)(ii) and (iii), which states:

“After expeditiously reviewing a complaint under subsection the chief judge, by written order stating his or her reasons, may dismiss the complaint if the chief judge finds the complaint to be directly related to the merits of a decision or procedural ruling, or frivolous, lacking sufficient evidence to raise an inference that misconduct has occurred, or containing allegations which are incapable of being established through investigation”

Accordingly, the Judicial Council after its review of the relevant materials denied the complainant’s petition for review and upheld Judge Rovner’s Memorandum and Order.

The complainant is no longer entitled to any further review.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.