Democrat Mary Jane Theis on Wednesday took over as chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, succeeding retiring justice and fellow Democrat Anne Burke.
Selected by her fellow justices on the seven-member high court, Theis will serve a three-year term, assuming voters in the Nov. 8 general election choose to retain her on the bench for another 10-year term. Theis will be the fourth woman, and second in a row following Burke, to lead the court.
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Her appointment to the largely administrative role comes at a tumultuous time for the court, which will see its partisan balance — currently 4-3 in favor of Democrats — determined by two hotly contested races for open seats. Those races come after voters in 2020 for the first time removed a justice, Democrat Thomas Kilbride, from the bench.
The high court also is playing an important role in implementing a new state law that will eliminate cash bail on Jan. 1.
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“I look forward to working with the bench, bar and community at large to further the Court’s mission of providing access to equal justice, ensuring judicial integrity and upholding the rule of law,” Theis said in a statement. “Our goal continues to be increasing public trust and confidence in the courts.”
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Theis, 73, of Chicago and the daughter of a Cook County judge, graduated from Loyola University in 1971 and received her law degree from the University of San Francisco in 1974.
Prior to being appointed to the bench in Cook County in 1983, she worked as an assistant public defender. She was elected a circuit judge in 1988 and elevated to the First District Appellate Court by appointment in 1993.
In 2010, she was appointed to the Supreme Court after Justice Thomas Fitzgerald retired. Two years later, she was elected to a full 10-year term.
One of her opponents in the 2012 Democratic primary was Joy Cunningham, who last month was appointed to take over Burke’s seat upon her retirement from the court at the end of November.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
