January 5, 2026

Honorable Justices,

We are writing to call your attention to an article recently published by Retired Judge James R. Brown (hereafter “Judge Brown”) and to request that you exercise your discretion to reverse an order you entered on December 11, 2025 recalling him to the bench for a year.

In the article in question, published in September, 2025, Judge Brown expressed a number of statements about “lawfare” waged against President Trump and his supporters that are contrary to both the law and the facts related to Trump’s prior actions. Under the First Amendment, any private citizen is, of course, generally free to express their opinions, regardless of their accuracy or wisdom. However, members of the judiciary are held to a higher standard. Judges are required to avoid communications that suggest bias or prejudice on their part. In his article Judge Brown spouted conspiracy theories and propaganda that pervades right wing media in this country and expressed hostility and threats to people who hold political and legal views contrary to those he expressed. The stated views reflected bias and prejudice on race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. He subsequently repeated those sentiments in a podcast later in September. A copy of the article in question is attached.

The statements in question are wildly inappropriate for a member of the judiciary to be making. In our view they run afoul of the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct. Just as significantly, they demonstrate that Judge Brown lacks the temperament, judgment, independence, competence, impartiality and respect for the rule of law necessary for those who serve in the judiciary.

On December 11, 2025, your Court issued an order recalling Judge Brown to the bench for one year, starting in December 2025. We believe that Judge Brown’s conduct should preclude him from ever sitting in judgment of others again as a member of the Cook County judiciary. We are hereby requesting that you withdraw the December 11th order recalling him to the bench.

We are available to discuss any questions you may have regarding this matter.

The Chicago Council of Lawyers

By: David R. Melton
Acting Executive Director

Click here to download the letter, which includes a copy of the article in question.