Justice Should be Blind, Not Crazy

by Will Grigg
Apr. 08, 2014

Two years ago, Chicago-area voters reelected a criminal court judge named Cynthia Brim despite the fact that she was declared legally insane. Her state-certified mental illness was the only thing that kept Brim from being sent to jail for assaulting a sheriff’s deputy.

Judge Brim, who shoved the deputy during what was described as a manic episode, was found not guilty of battery by reason of insanity. The day before that incident, she indulged in a lengthy, incoherent rant during a session of traffic court.

Suspended after the battery charge was filed against her, Brim was reelected two weeks later. And given the character of Chicago politics, it’s not surprising that she continued to receive her $182,000 salary during the two years she has been suspended from the bench.

Brim spent several hours on March 28 arguing to a Judicial Inquiry Board that she is fit to serve as a judge, despite her diagnosed condition and the fact that she is on several strong prescription medications.

While wishing Cynthia Brim well, she should not be allowed to reclaim a job that requires sober judgment. And her campaign for reinstatement illustrates that she, like too many others in her profession, sees her position as an entitlement, rather than a duty.