James Shapiro is running to retain his seat as judge of Cook County Circuit Court's, 8th Judicial Subcircuit.  That covers the lakefront from Devon Ave on the north to near 31st St. on the south. 

See MAP to find out if you live in the 8th Subcircuit.

What does it mean to be a progressive judge?

Shapiro answers:  "It means a judge in traffic court who's sensitive to the fact that traffic defendants are not all made of money, and that the $165 in "Mandatory Fees and Costs," in addition to whatever fine the judge imposes, imposes a severe hardship on the unemployed, together with working folks who have already had to take a half day off to come to court.

"It means a judge who grants a motion to quash and suppress an arrest, as I just did today, when a cop pretextually stops a Latino driver for "obstructed view" because he has an air freshener hanging from his rear view mirror.

"It means a judge who puts those accused of non-violent crimes, often poor drug users, on Electronic Home Monitoring ("EHM") when they can't afford to post a bond, rather than put them in already-overcrowded jails.

"In the civil context, it means standing up for a plaintiff car owner whom a bank's loan officer gave an accelerated repayment schedule, which the bank later tried to weasel out of based on the fine print in its loan agreement and a legal technicality.

"It means strictly enforcing all the landlord/tenant rules so tenants who fall behind in paying their rent don't get unjustly evicted from their homes.

"In general, it means standing up for the little guy against the powerful, because as the great Polish leader, Lech Walesa, said, Power is only important as an instrument for service to the powerless."