The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is set to hear oral arguments tomorrow, May 6, in a federal lawsuit involving a retired judge who claims he was illegally stripped of his seat because of opinions he shared as a private citizen.
The legal battle follows the removal of Judge James R. Brown from a temporary judicial assignment on the Cook County Circuit Court. Brown, who served 18 years on the bench before retiring in 2020, returned to active duty in late 2025 after the Illinois Supreme Court issued an urgent call for retired judges to help manage a heavy case backlog.
Despite a career marked by strong performance evaluations, Brown’s return lasted only six weeks. In early 2026, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a one-sentence order revoking his appointment.
The move came after the Cook County Bar Association and the Chicago Council of Lawyers publicly criticized Brown for a blog post and podcast appearance he made in September 2025. In those appearances, which occurred while he was still a private citizen, Brown discussed national politics and the prosecution of Donald Trump.
The Liberty Justice Center (LJC), representing Brown, argues the removal was a clear violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. LJC Senior Counsel Brendan Philbin contends that the state supreme court bypassed the legal requirements for removing a sitting judge, which typically require impeachment or a formal hearing before the Illinois Courts Commission.
“By removing Judge James Brown from the bench, the justices of Illinois Supreme Court chose politics over the rule of law,” Philbin stated. “In a frantic rush to obey the partisan directives of the Cook County Bar Association and Chicago Council of Lawyers, the justices ignored the Illinois Constitution and trampled on the First Amendment rights of Judge Brown.”
The lawsuit, Brown v. Neville, et al., claims the Illinois Supreme Court failed to provide notice or a hearing before vacating the appointment. Furthermore, the LJC argues that because Brown’s comments were made before he even applied for the recall assignment, he was not subject to the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct at the time.
The justices later released an unsigned statement acknowledging that Brown’s speech was the reason for his removal. The LJC is now asking the federal court to restore Brown to his one-year assignment in the Traffic Court, declare the justices’ actions unconstitutional, and award damages for economic and reputational harm.
“Judges do not forfeit their right to speak on matters of public concern once they retire,” the LJC argued in its filing, “and even the highest court in a state must follow the law when it seeks to remove a sitting judge.”
The hearing is scheduled to take place in Chicago as the court determines whether the state’s highest judicial body overstepped its authority by punishing a colleague for his private political discourse.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox
