Judge Accused Of Shoving Deputy Removed From Duties

CHICAGO (CBS) – A Cook County judge arrested last week for allegedly shoving a sheriff's officer has been barred from the bench, the chief judge of the circuit announced Monday.

Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans said the circuit court's Executive Committee that he chairs made the decision to remove Cynthia Brim from her duties until further notice.

Evans said the committee finds that Brim poses a potential "threat of injury to the public, the judicial branch of government or the orderly administration of justice." Also, the criminal charge filed against her "reflects adversely upon her fitness to serve," the panel found.

Brim was arrested and briefly detained Friday after she allegedly shoved a sheriff's staff member at the Daley Center court building, the Cook County Sheriff's Department said. She was charged with misdemeanor battery following the disturbance, which reportedly involved a set of lost keys the judge was trying to retrieve.

The Sun-Times reported that Brim, a floating judge who filled in for others, had behaved erratically in the courtroom earlier in the week.

Brim was first elected a circuit judge in 1994 and has been assigned to the Sixth Municipal District in the Markham courthouse since 2010, Evans' statement said. She was admitted to the bar in 1983 and worked as an assistant Illinois attorney general in Chicago before joining the bench.

Brim is removed from "all judicial duties until further order of court" and no longer has unrestricted access to court facilities. If Brim has business there, she must be escorted by court security, Evans said.