12 CHICAGO READER | MARCH 17, 2006 | SECTION ONE

Elections

The MoreThings ChangeThe system that was supposed to diversify the judicial system is(barely) working.

By Christopher Hayes

W hen Ramon Ocasio decidedto run for Cook Countyjudge last year he figured

he’d be a shoo-in if he could win overthe local committeemen who put theDemocratic Party label next tojudges’ names on the ballot. And hedidn’t see why he couldn’t: He was alifelong resident of the Sixth JudicialSubcircuit, where he was running,and had 16 years of experience as alawyer in the county’s criminalcourts; he now supervises 17 otherattorneys in the public defender’soffice. The Chicago Bar Association,which rates candidates as either“qualified” or “not recommended,”had found him qualified, as had theChicago Council of Lawyers. And he

was Hispanic, which only 4 percentof county judges are, even though thecounty is 22 percent Hispanic.

But the 11 committeemen settledinstead on Gloria Chevere and

Edward Lechowicz for the twovacancies in the northwest-side sub-circuit, so it’s their names that willhave the party’s imprimatur on theMarch 21 primary ballot. Chevere, a

53-year-old Hispanic attorney, hasbeen practicing for 25 years, servedin Harold Washington’s administra-tion as deputy commissioner of theDepartment of Streets and

[snip] Basketball doesn’t have to be for dummies.Of the eight top-ranked schools in the Division Imen’s college basketball championship tournament,only two—Villanova and Duke—meet the NCAA’s min-imum academic standards (roughly a 60 percentgraduation rate), according to information compiled

at thinkprogress.org/march-madness. Ohio State,Memphis, UCLA, Texas, UConn, and Tennessee do not.Overall, 30 of this year’s 65 best basketball schoolsdon’t meet the minimum standard; all three Illinoisschools in the tournament do. —Harold Henderson |hhenderson@chicagoreader.comOur Town

Sixth Judicial Subcircuit candidate Ramon Ocasio

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Sanitation, and was once a CTA exec-utive. Lechowicz, a 36-year-oldattorney, has been practicing law foronly nine years—but two of themwere in the law firm of Ed Vrdolyak,a family friend. And he has a fran-chise last name—his father is TedLechowicz, a 30th Ward veteran whowas a state senator and a CookCounty commissioner. Ocasio thinkspolitics trumped merit. “I was eventold by some committeemen thatafter reviewing my resumé theycould tell I was qualified,” he says.

A politician’s son gets slated over anoutsider: dog bites man, right? Well,yes, but Ocasio and state senatorMiguel del Valle say there’s a biggerissue than mere patronage. Thereforms that created judicial subcir-cuits 15 years ago were supposed toclear the way for a more diverse bench,sweeping aside the old boys’ networkthat kept judgeships in the hands ofthe usual suspects. And EdwardLechowicz, they say, is definitely ausual suspect. So was the judge he’sslated to replace, the late JamesJorzak, who slipped into the job at thetender age of 31 with an assist from hisdad, a county judge at the time.

Before 1991 there were two ways tobecome a judge in the Cook CountyCircuit Court, which has jurisdictionover state and local cases involving

everything from traffic violations tomurders. You could be elected a cir-cuit judge in a countywide election,or you could be appointed an associ-ate judge by the sitting circuit judges.About half the 300 judges got theirjobs one way, half the other. The chiefproblem with this system, accordingto its critics, was that it placed atremendous amount of power in thehands of the Democratic Party’s cen-tral committee, which got to choosethe candidates who would get theparty’s nod on the ballot, almostensuring their election. Generally itchose white men, and for years theranks of county judges were domi-nated by attorneys with Irish sur-names and strong connections to theparty—judicial races were called the“Irish sweepstakes.” The sittingjudges usually appointed judges fromthe same demographic.

Even as the city and its governingclass grew more diverse in the 80sand 90s the judges remained blind-ingly white. By the early 90s onlyaround 13 percent of judges wereblack, 2 percent Latino. Frustrated,an unlikely coalition of black andLatino Democrats and whiteRepublicans from the suburbs—whorarely got on the bench either—pushed to open up the process sothat more of their own could become

judges. In 1991 a state bill created athird way of electing judges, settingaside 165 circuit judgeships to beelected by the voters in 15 newly cre-ated subcircuits in the county, manyof which contained a majority ofblack, Latino, or Republican voters.The power to slate candidates inthese races shifted to local commit-teemen in each subcircuit.

Did the new system work? “Thesubcircuits have led to an increasedlevel of diversity on the bench,” saysMalcolm Rich, executive director ofthe Chicago Council of Lawyers, “butit’s limited in its impact.” ChicagoLawyer’s 2005 diversity study showsjust how limited: of 397 judges, only16 were Latino (4 percent) and only8 of them had been elected from thesubcircuits. (The county is 26 per-cent black, and 20 percent of judgesare black; of the remaining judges,34 percent are women, 4 percentAsian-American.) “There’s a longways to go,” says Rich.

This is what has del Valle so exer-cised about the Sixth Subcircuit race.“What’s ironic this time around, youhave Hispanic committeemen whowere there when the subcircuits werecreated,” he says. “They were thereadvocating for Latino political empow-erment—and today they turn aroundand give away the seat to someone less

qualified than the Hispanic seekingtheir support. There’s still a need toincrease the diversity of the bench.They had an opportunity, and in mybook an obligation, and they let thecommunity down.”

Most of the committeemen don’tsee it that way. For them, it’s simple.There were two openings in a subcir-cuit with two major ethnic groups,Latino and white ethnic. With one ofeach on the slate, they satisfied thediversity imperatives. “The district ispretty much half-and-half,” says 31stWard committeeman Joseph Berrios.“We’ve got to take consideration ofthe ethnics that are in there, so we tryto do a balanced ticket.” Other com-mitteemen point out that the SixthSubcircuit has put more Latinos inthe court than any other subcircuitprecisely because they know how tocompromise with the non-Latinocommitteemen. “Of course there’s notenough Latinos on the bench,” says26th Ward committeeman RobertoMaldonado. “But the only placewhere Latinos have a real chance ofgetting elected has been at the subcir-cuit level. We have not grabbed 100percent of the people that have gottenelected, but the majority from oursubcircuit have been Latino.”

Leaving aside the question of what

[snip] God’s glass ceiling. According to U.S. Catholic, one proposal underconsideration in the Church of England “would allow women bishops, butparishes opposed to the idea could opt out of a female bishop’s jurisdic-tion . . . [and] answer to an alternate, male bishop on most matters.” —HH

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Our Town

the proper ethnic calculus is, Ocasio’schief contention is that while he maynot have the resumé of Chevere, he’sa lot more qualified than Lechowicz.Lechowicz says that’s just sourgrapes and points to his trial experi-ence in Vrdolyak’s firm and his cur-rent position as clerk for CookCounty chief judge Timothy Evans.He hasn’t submitted his qualifica-tions to the Chicago Bar Associationor the Chicago Council of Lawyers toassess, perhaps understandably sincethey don’t usually rate candidateswith less than ten years experience inthe law. He also says he and Ocasioeach had the opportunity to make apresentation before the commit-teemen. “I don’t know all of them,”he says. “I wouldn’t say there was anyguarantee.” Billboards soon went uparound the neighborhood with thenames of both Chevere, the HaroldWashington reformer, andLechowicz, the Vrdolyak protege,under the slogan WORKING TOGETH-ER FOR EQUAL JUSTICE.

Ocasio refused to pack it in. Onhis own he managed to get therequired 2,000 signatures, survive aseries of ballot challenges fromLechowicz’s lawyers, and win theendorsement of the Tribune, theCook County Democratic Women’sOrganization, and 35th Ward alder-man and committeeman Rey Colon,who says his precinct workers will bedistributing Ocasio’s literature. Healso won the endorsement of theIVI-IPO—the only Sixth Subcircuitcandidate to do so.

Ocasio and attorney RoxanneRochester (rated “not recommended”by the Chicago Bar Association, “notqualified” by the Chicago Council ofLawyers, but “qualified” by nineother local bar associations) will faceoff against Lechowicz in the primary.Ocasio says some committeemenhinted they’d help him in the futureif he got out of the race, but stickingit out has become a point of pride.

Lechowicz says he too is runninghard. “Just because you’re the slat-ed candidate doesn’t mean you’reguaranteed to win,” he says. Thoughhe immediately adds, “This districthas yet to lose a slated candidatefor judge.” v

Media

The NiceMagazineWhen you cuddle up withyour subjects, are you serving your readers?By Martha Bayne

On Friday, March 3, some localmovers and shakers gatheredat Maxim’s, the city’s art nou-

veau special-events venue, to cele-brate the tenth anniversary of StopSmiling. It’s a slick locally producedand internationally distributedlifestyle magazine whose declaredmission is to recapture the freewheel-ing spirit of class acts like Esquireand Playboy in their glory days.

I didn’t go, but here’s what I heard.Hipsters in their party best sized upwhat other hipsters were wearing.Guests of honor Lois Weisberg andRick Kogan rubbed shoulders withfolks from Lumpen and ThrillJockey. Nobody danced, save one guywho jumped around like a monkeywhen DJ Ben Fasman put on somereggae, but people ate the oil-curedolives and artisanal cheeses and gotdrunk on booze that didn’t run outbefore the party was over—the hall-mark of successful party planning, ifnot a successful party. In his briefremarks, emcee Ira Glass congratu-lated the editors for sticking to theiraesthetic vision. “It’s inspiring whenpeople are making stuff that’s reallyabout their own obsessions,” he said,“and not worrying about what any-one else thinks, or what every othermagazine does.”

Glass is right: Stop Smiling has alot to recommend it. Each issue,organized loosely around a singletheme, aims for a timeless quality atodds with the “flavor-of-the-week”ethic of celebrity journalism. Theeditors idolize the giants of NewJournalism’s golden age. Recent fea-tures have included selections fromthe papers of Terry Southern, remi-niscences by friends and associates ofthe late Hunter S. Thompson, and, in

the “boxing” issue, a lengthy, fasci-nating interview with NormanMailer conducted by his son. “We’renot trying to sell anything,” says edi-tor and publisher JC Gabel. “We’renot trying to be hard-nosed journal-ists and we’re not trying to befluff. . . . We’re a lifestyle magazinetechnically, in the eyes of advertisers,but if anything we’re a lifestyle maga-zine that’s poking fun at the idea ofwhat a lifestyle magazine is.”

Stop Smiling has come a long wayfrom its origins as a zine Gabel pro-duced in his Columbia College dormroom. About four years ago Gabel,now 30, hooked up with JamesHughes, who’s the 26-year-old son offilmmaker John Hughes, and theydecided to step things up a bit, enlist-ing the services of New York-baseddesign team Trooper. Thanks to strik-ing art direction and some distinctiveoriginal photography, the issues sincehave had a sophisticated, coffee-table-quality look. Stop Smiling nowclaims a circulation of 60,000.

Not long ago, Gabel brought in anadvertising manager who’s helpedpack the pages with glossy, four-colorpitches for Absolut and Scion at therate, at least officially, of $4,500 apage. They also brought in a privateinvestor they decline to name, and

last year they were able to move theenterprise out of Gabel’s Bucktownapartment and into a fixer-upperstorefront on Milwaukee Avenue inWicker Park. The rear of the space isfull of iMacs, squeaky new Ikea fit-tings, and stacks and stacks of backissues. The airy front room is intend-ed to function as an events space forparties and for public discussionswith authors and other figures.Gabel’s currently talking to WBEZabout broadcasting them.

The anniversary party at Maxim’sdoubled as a release party for issue24, the “Chicago” issue—a celebra-tion of all things homegrown. Itssubjects are a collection of local fix-tures: there are Q & A sessions withGlass, Weisberg, Studs Terkel, jazzDJ Dick Buckley, architect DirkLohan, and filmmaker Steve James.Writers tip their hats in a few para-graphs to institutions likeLookingglass and Jazz Record Mart.There’s a trio of vintage Mike Roykocolumns introduced by his sonDavid, a reproduction of a mildlyrisqué Shel Silverstein cartoon forPlayboy, and a portfolio of VictorSkrebneski portraits of famousChicagoans like Cardinal JosephBernardin and John Malkovich.

The magazine makes a habit of

continued from page 13

Rick Kogan and Stop Smiling editor and publisher JC Gabel

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[snip] Incredibly hard workers or incredibly efficient parasites? The Center forAmerican Progress notes that “since the 2003 tax cuts, real average weekly earn-ings have fallen . . . from $554.92 in May 2003 to $550.60 in Dec. 2005. . . . But thetop executives of America’s 500 largest companies were, on average, insulated fromthis trend. They received an aggregate pay raise of 54 percent in 2005.” —HH

constant attack of the media. We wantto provide that a little more.”

The magazine lets subjects vet arti-cles and request changes beforethey’re published. “Sometimes it’ssuch an accomplishment to just beable to be speaking to some of thesepeople, that we know that, obviously,they’re going to be looking at the piecelater,” says Hughes. “Where we’re at,it’s just better to be more symbioticthan adversarial. We’d never try to outsomeone on something that they’rehiding from. We’re not looking forscoops. If we’re going to spend thismuch time on something, then thepeople on the cover who gave us anawful lot of their time, then they’dbetter be happy with it too.”

That sound you just heard? Was itHunter Thompson spinning in his

grave? There’s a difference betweenlionizing bygone writers such asThompson and carrying on theirlegacy of profane truth-telling. Thosewriters were often adversarial; theyput the interests of their readerscontinued on page 16

E verybody knows fancy hotels have a freeevening wine hour for guests in the lobby, but

who knew that when you crash they don’t care? Iwas talking to the wine pourer while waiting for afriend at the Hotel Allegro recently and confessedthat I wasn’t actually staying at the hotel. He said

not to worry—having more peo-ple around is good for the atmos-phere. Nevertheless there are a fewrules: going in a large group can getyou in trouble, jeans and gym shoes

won’t fly, and you will get carded. The Allegro serves com-plimentary wine daily from 5 to 6 PM, as do its sisterhotels, the Monaco, 225 N. Wabash, and theBurnham, 1 W. Washington. —Megan Roberts

Hotel Allegro171 W. Randolph312-236-0123

Free Shit

Wine at Hotels

CHICAGO READER | MARCH 17, 2006 | SECTION ONE 15

printing issues withmultiple covers. Thistime around thecover subjects areHugh Hefner, Vince Vaughn, and, inwhat the editors feel was a coup,Mayor Daley, who’s wearing a WhiteSox cap and wagging his finger at thecamera. It’s not easy to score an audi-ence with hizzoner—Gabel says ittook several months of finagling—and when they sat down the parame-ters were predetermined and strict.So Gabel didn’t quiz the mayor about

the hired truckscandal, or thewater depart-ment heroinring, or theMillennium

Park budget debacle, orthe smoking ban. Heasked instead how thatticker-tape parade for

the Sox got put together so fast. Gabel and Hughes make it clear

that they aren’t interested in going forthe gotcha. “It’s not our job, really, tobe busting him up for machine poli-tics or corruption in his administra-tion,” Gabel says. Plus, confrontationis exhausting. “Especially with theolder people we talk to, we want toput the ball in their court. I think peo-ple need a little bit of a break from the