Cook County Judge Reprimanded After Allowing Clerk To Hear Cases
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Cook County judge has been reprimanded for allowing a law clerk to sit on the bench in a judicial robe and adjudicate at least two cases.
Judge Valarie E. Turner has been temporarily reassigned to non-judicial duties, according to a news release.
Turner will be working in the office of Judge E. Kenneth Wright, Jr. in the First Municipal District, CBS2's Roseanne Tellez reports.
The assignment is effective until further notice.
Turner allegedly permitted attorney Rhonda Crawford, a law clerk with the office of the Chief Judge Tim Evans and candidate for judicial election in November 2016, to adjudicate at least two cases from the bench while wearing a judicial robe in Turner's courtroom.
"She may never get to put those robes on again," said CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller. "The sitting judge may lose her robes for doing this also. "
Turner had been assigned to the Sixth Municipal District Courthouse in Markham where she heard a variety of matters in rotation with other judges.
Crawford was suspended pending internal investigation without pay.
Her current annual salary is $56,961, and she has been employed as a law clerk/staff attorney with the office since 2011.
