Illinois Supreme Court Requires Judges to Self-Evaluate

This week, the Illinois Supreme Court announced that it had amended Illinois Supreme Court Rule 58, “Judicial Performance Evaluation.” The amendment mandates that all Circuit Court and Associate judges be evaluated through a process to be administered through a contract with National Center for State Courts.

The evaluations are to remain strictly confidential so that commentary may be collected candidly; only the judge and a facilitator will know the results of each evaluation. This initiative is a step in the right direction toward improving judicial performance and public confidence in the judiciary, especially for those judges who are committed to self-improvement.

However, why not share the results with presiding judges, who could then use them to make better administrative decisions? This administrative benefit is one of the best attributes of a model judicial performance evaluation, according to the American Bar Association’s “Guidelines for the Evaluation of Judicial Performance.” (PDF) The facilitators could still protect the confidentiality of their sources while making the most of comprehensive evaluations of over 100 judges each year.