Opinion ID: 2219951
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Remarks Regarding Appellate Court Opinions

Text: Defendant next contends that he was deprived of due process and fundamental fairness where the [trial] judge disparaged various justices of the Illinois appellate court, expressed contempt for recent appellate opinions restricting a trial court's authority to shackle or restrain defendants, and indicated he would mail a transcript regarding the defendant's single courtroom disruption to appellate and supreme court justices who potentially would review this case on appeal. Defendant cites this court's decision in In re Dominique F., 145 Ill.2d 311, 164 Ill.Dec. 639, 583 N.E.2d 555 (1991), for the proposition that [i]t is unacceptable for a trial judge to disregard    precedent because he disagrees with it. We find that the trial judge in this case registered his disagreement with precedent, but he did not disregard it. As previously noted, perhaps because the trial judge in this case had been subject to appellate court criticism in a previous matter, he was particularly sensitive to the Boose issue, and he took care to comply with the mandated procedure. The trial court set forth more of record than was necessary to justify the physical restraints and security measures it utilized. Thus, defendant was not denied due process or fundamental fairness by the court's comments, all of which were made outside the presence of the jury. We do not, however, mean to encourage the kind of rambling, amorphous diatribe in which the trial court engaged. While restrained and reasoned disagreement with the ruling of a superior court is not to be discouraged, and may well be constructive in a proper setting, as our appellate court has observed, dignity is necessary for judicial proceedings. See People v. Thurmond, 317 Ill.App.3d 1133, 1145, 251 Ill.Dec. 697, 741 N.E.2d 291 (2000). As the appellate court noted in Thurmond, a trial judge should be the exemplar of dignity, he should exercise restraint over his conduct and utterances, and should control his emotions. Thurmond, 317 Ill.App.3d at 1145, 251 Ill.Dec. 697, 741 N.E.2d 291. We trust that the judge in this case will, in the future, circumscribe his conduct and comments so as to reflect the dignity his office, in particular, and that of the judicial system, of which he is but one part.