Voters who participated in the primary election and who stayed with the ballot through all the choices for judicial office are to be commended. Conscientious voters have few sources of information about judicial candidates. It is, therefore, disappointing that the Tribune chose to limit those sources in the chart of bar association ratings published March 17.
The Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening is a diverse group of 10 bar associations that work together to evaluate the credentials of judicial candidates. To fairly reflect the breadth and diversity of our organizations, we issue individual ratings of the candidates. The Tribune omitted ratings by three: the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago, Decalogue Society of Lawyers (an organization of Jewish lawyers) and the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago.
The irony, of course, is that the Tribune left out the voices of three groups that often need to rely on the justice system to assert or enforce their rights. The Tribune’s decision not to publish results from these associations sends an unfortunate message to voters who would have benefited from their ratings.
