The Chicago Council of Lawyers filed a complaint Friday against Illinois Appellate Judge Morton Zwick, charging that a political ad aired by his campaign was “calculated to confuse the voting public.”
The 30-second TV spot attacks rival candidate Thomas Fitzgerald, presiding judge of Cook County Criminal Courts, by attempting to link Fitzgerald to wrongful death penalty convictions.
But the council, as well as the Chicago Bar Association, said Fitzgerald had nothing to do with the trial of any Death Row inmate who was later exonerated.
In its complaint to the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board Friday, the council claimed Zwick had violated rules that bar judicial nominees from knowingly misrepresenting facts relating to opponents and that require them to conduct campaigns with dignity. Earlier in the week, the Chicago Bar Association filed a similar complaint. Both groups have rated Zwick as unqualified for the high court.
Zwick’s campaign manager, Eric Adelstein, dismissed the complaints as politically motivated.
