Letter: Smear By Those With Something To Gain?

Smear By Those With Something

To Gain?

Our court system is under attack again, in a repeat of the 2014 smear campaign that was waged against Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier.

In the final two weeks of the 2014 General Election a small number of trial lawyers bankrolled $2.25 million in negative, shameful, mean-spirited ads against the Justice’s retention. These same lawyers stood to gain $2 billion in verdict renderings should cases go their way.

Once again a small group of trial lawyers see our courts as an investment, and this year’s investment is being made against Appellate Justice James “Randy” Moore and Madison County Circuit Judge John Barberis. Ask yourself “Why would this small group of trial lawyers invest over $1 million for negative attack ads?” The answer to this question is very obvious.

James “Randy” Moore has served honorably on the 5th District Appellate Court since January 2015 and before that he was a twice-elected judge by the voters of deep southern Illinois. John Barberis was elected in 2014 and is the first Republican to be elected to the Madison County bench in more that seven decades.

Both of these men are fine individuals and they represent the finest qualities that we want in our judges.

We urge our fellow residents to reject the extreme, over-the-top attempts to smear the names of these good men and vote for James “Randy” Moore and John Barberis to serve as justices for the 5th District Appellate Court in Mt. Vernon.

Sincerely,

David Luechtefeld

State Senator, 58th District

Charlie Meier

State Representative, 108th District