Joseph E. Birkett (born February 13, 1955) is an appellate court judge on the
Illinois Appellate Court
The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois Circuit Courts. Three Illinois Appellate Court judges hear each case and the concurrence of two is necessary to render a decision. The ...
– Second District. He was appointed by the
Illinois Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...
in December 2010, and was subsequently elected to a full term in November 2012. His current term runs through December 2022. Prior to being elevated to the bench, Justice Birkett was the
State's Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...
of
DuPage County
DuPage County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat is ...
, an office he had held since 1996.
Biography
Birkett is one of 10 children on
Chicago's West side. His father died when he was 13. He attended St. Phillip High School, and Aurora Central Catholic High School where he was football team captain and Most Valuable Player. He went on to attend
North Central College
North Central College is a private college in Naperville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has nearly 70 areas of study in undergraduate majors, minors, and programs through 19 academic departments organized in thre ...
, where he earned a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
in 1977. He received his
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from
John Marshall Law School in 1981, where he placed first in the Intramural
Moot Court
Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In most countries, the phrase " ...
Competition.
He was the Assistant State's Attorney of Dupage County from 1981 to 1985, Chief of Major Crimes Unit from 1988 to 1986, Deputy Chief of Criminal Division from 1986 to 1991, Chief of Criminal Division from 1991 to 1996, and has served as DuPage County State's Attorney since then. He was first elected in November 1996, then re-elected in 2000 and 2004.
Birkett gained national attention when he prosecuted
Marilyn Lemak in 1999 for the murders of her three children. Lemak is currently serving a life sentence.
He has been married to Patricia Hill since July 9, 1977, and has two children, Nick and Jackie. He is a resident of
Wheaton and attends
St. Daniel The Prophet Catholic Church in Wheaton. His brother-in-law is
George Wendt
George Robert Wendt Jr. (born October 17, 1948) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Norm Peterson on the television sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy ...
, who is married to Birkett's sister Bernadette.
2002 run for Attorney General
In 2002, Birkett ran for
Illinois Attorney General
The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois, the attorney ...
against
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Lisa Madigan
Lisa Murray Madigan (born July 30, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as Attorney General of the U.S. state of Illinois from 2003 to 2019, being the first woman to hold that position. She is t ...
. Madigan defeated Birkett in the November 7, 2002
General Election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
with 50% of the vote to Birkett's 47%.
2006 run for Lieutenant Governor
Judy Baar Topinka
Judy Baar Topinka (January 16, 1944 – December 10, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the U.S. State of Illinois.
Originally a journalist, Topinka served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1981 ...
named Birkett as her running mate on December 9, 2005. On March 21, 2006, he defeated
Steve Rauschenberger
Steve Rauschenberger (born August 29, 1956) is an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Illinois State Senate from 1993 to 2007.
Early life
Steve Rauschenberger was born on August 29, 1956, ...
, Sandy Wegman, and Lawrence Bruckner in the
Republican Party's primary. Topinka also won her primary race. In the November 7, 2006 General Election, Democrats
Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...
and
Pat Quinn defeated Topinka and Birkett, as well as the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
's
Rich Whitney
Rich Whitney (born April 21, 1955) is an American politician and civil rights attorney who was the Illinois Green Party's nominee for Governor of Illinois in the elections of 2006 and 2010. During the 2006 campaign Whitney received endorsements ...
and Julie Samuels.
Appellate Court Judge
On November 2, 2010, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed Joe Birkett to serve as Appellate Court Judge on the Second District Appellate Court, replacing Justice
Jack O'Malley, who retired. He was sworn in on December 13, 2010.
Controversy
Rolando Cruz case
In 2002 Birkett's role in the
wrongful prosecution of Rolando Cruz, subsequently exonerated by DNA evidence in the murder of 10-year-old
Jeanine Nicarico
The Jeanine Nicarico murder case was a complex and influential homicide investigation and prosecution in which two men, Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez, both Latinos, were wrongfully convicted of abduction, rape and murder in 1985 in DuPage C ...
, was partly responsible for his loss to Democrat Lisa Madigan in the race for Illinois attorney general.
2007–08 Prosecution of Iraq War protesters
On July 18, 2007, The ''
Naperville Sun
The ''Naperville Sun'' is a newspaper based in Naperville, Illinois, USA. It is published three days a week, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. It is owned by Tribune Publishing's Chicago Tribune Media Group, a group that also includes the ''Aurora Be ...
'' published an editorial calling the state's attorney's
disorderly conduct
Disorderly conduct is a crime in most jurisdictions in the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan. Typically, "disorderly conduct" makes it a crime to be drunk in public, to " disturb the peace", or to loiter in certain are ...
charges against two war protestors "heavy-handed". The editorial opined:
It is hard to believe that the criminal charges against Sarah M. Hartfield, 45, of Naperville
Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city.
Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...
and Jeff Zurawski, 39, of Downers Grove
Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. It is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The village is located between I-88 and I-55. ...
are not at least to some extent politically inspired in nature...We also suspect that had the banner read "Support Bush and Cheney" instead of "Impeach Bush and Cheney – LIARS" the situation would have been viewed a little differently.
Supporters of the defendants staged three rallies at the DuPage County courthouse. The charges were dropped when the chief witness failed to appear in court. Jeff Zurawski called the prosecution "vindictive" and requested a public apology.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkett, Joe
1955 births
Living people
Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court
Illinois Republicans
People from Wheaton, Illinois
North Central College alumni
Politicians from Chicago
District attorneys in Illinois
John Marshall Law School (Chicago) alumni