mary jane theis reviews. Our analysis of Justice Theis’s tenure continues, and this time we’re looking at how often she disagrees with the Court’s majority opinion. Table 1847 details the annual percentage of civil cases in which Justice Theis sided with the majority for that year.
In 2011, Justice Theis had the highest rate for a full year, voting with the majority 97.06% of the time. In 2014 (88.89%), 2017 (88.46%), and 2019 (88.24%), she received grades below 90%. Justice Theis has sided with the majority in 93.35 percent of all civil cases she has participated in since joining the Court.
With respect to criminal cases, Justice Theis has sided with the majority 94.99% of the time. In 2016, her best full year, she consistently sided with the majority. This year, she agreed with the majority in only 76.19 percent of her criminal cases. 2011 (97.78%), 2015 (96.97%), 2017 (97.06%), and 2020 (96.43%) were the other four years she scored over 95%.
GOP candidate and former Lake County sheriff Mark Curran is running against incumbent Lake County Judge Elizabeth Liz Rochford (D). Justice Michael J. Burke (a Republican appointee) of the state supreme court is running against Justice Mary Kay OBrien (a Democrat appointee of the court of appeals) in the 3rd District.
After being appointed to the Supreme Court of Illinois to fill the seat left vacant by the retirement of Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald, Theis was elected to a full term in 2012. After working as an assistant public defender in Cook County, she entered the judiciary in 1983 as an associate judge for that same jurisdiction.
Theis, a native Chicagoan, is the daughter of the Honorable Kenneth R. Wendt, Circuit Judge of Cook County. Theis is the president of the Illinois Judges Association and the president and a founding member of the Illinois Judges Foundation, in addition to being a member of numerous legal associations.
As chief justice since 2019, Burke announced her retirement in September. Since 2006, she has been a member of the court. A 10-year term for Burke began in 2008, and she just won another one in 2018.
Ald. Ed. Burke, Anne Burke’s husband, is facing federal racketeering charges and is set to stand trial in November 2023. If he decides to run for reelection next year, at the age of 78, Chicago’s longest-serving alderman will be going for an unprecedented 15th term.
