In a stunning motion, a coalition of lawyers involved in cases where John Burge is accused of torture are asking all Cook County judges to be disqualified (via TalkLeft.
The argument is that too many of the judges have been involved as prosecutors in too many of these cases and an unavoidable conflict of interest exists.
While I expect this motion to be quashed, the questions raised are extremely important. The problem is I’m not sure if bringing in judges from outstate or the suburbs will necessarily be better. Chicago judges are probably more likely to accept the notion that police behave badly than outstate judges in Illinois.