In 2004, a little known Republican judge from southern Illinois
raked in millions of dollars for an election for Illinois Supreme Court
Justice. So did his Democratic opponent. My research into Karmeier’s campaign
funds shows these campaign entries by a shadowy interest group, located in Washington DC: Illinois State
Board of Elections, Citizens for Karmeier— contributions by JUSTPAC
of $150,000 on October 12, 2004, and $186,125 on October 21, 2004, under the
vendor name MPGH Agency, Inc., with an address of 700 13th Street NW Washington, DC 20005.
There were many more donations just like this.
Why did this race attract so much money? State Farm
Insurance Co. donated heavily to Justice Karmier at the time it was pursuing an
appeal in Avery v. State Farm. The trial court awarded policyholders $1 billion in damages for the insurer’s
fraudulent use of inferior parts to repair cars. After Justice Karmeier was elected, he voted
to overturn this ruling.
The 2004 election hounds him today. Recently, a federal
judge ordered him to sit for a deposition in a RICO lawsuit against State Farm
that stems from the insurer’s campaign donations. In 2014, Justice Karmeier barely survived a
bitterly contested retention election that attracted more than $2 million to
attack his record.
Now, he has been elected by fellow justices to be the Chief
Justice.
Compare that high achievement with this news from yesterday
(September 19, 2016) (News source here.
“An Illinois federal judge late
Friday granted class certification to plaintiffs representing 4.7 million State
Farm policyholders involved in a complex Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act (‘RICO’) regarding an alleged scheme involving campaign
contributions being poured into an Illinois Supreme Court justice’s race to
influence the reversal of a $1.05 billion decision,” says a release from the
Clifford Law Offices of Chicago.
According to the complaint, State
Farm and related defendants allegedly “perpetrat[ed] a scheme through an
enterprise specifically designed to defraud Plaintiffs and Class out of a $1.05
billion judgment.”
Per Clifford’s, “That ‘scheme’
allegedly involved the defendants orchestrating a ‘dark money’ network of
campaign contributions to the campaign committee of Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier
for the Illinois Supreme Court who would be sympathetic to State Farm’s
position in the $1.05 billion class action, and then misleading and lying to
the Court about its clandestine and sizeable involvement in contributions to
Karmeier’s contested election.”
Per Clifford’s, “That ‘scheme’
allegedly involved the defendants orchestrating a ‘dark money’ network of
campaign contributions to the campaign committee of Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier
for the Illinois Supreme Court who would be sympathetic to State Farm’s
position in the $1.05 billion class action, and then misleading and lying to
the Court about its clandestine and sizeable involvement in contributions to
Karmeier’s contested election.”
Avery v. State Farm involved damages
to claimants’ cars being repaired with non-factory authorized or non-original
equipment manufacturer or OEM parts when they were led to believe that they
were factory authorized, as customer’s State Farm policies provided. The case
covers a period between 1987-1998.”
Illinois has a supreme court that matches the other branches
of government for low ethics.
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