Chief Justice Fitzgerald retiring from Illinois high court
September 14, 2010
Illinois: Yesterday, Thomas R. Fitzgerald, the Chief Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court, announced his retirement effective October 25, 2010. He steps down from the court after receiving a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. [1]
Fitzgerald has served on the Supreme Court since 2000 and in 2008, became its Chief Justice. Prior to this, he was a judge on the Cook Judicial Circuit Court since 1987. [2]
A successor to Fitzgerald has already been named. Illinois Appellate Judge Mary Jane Theis was appointed to the Court and will serve an initial two year term. She will join the high court the same day that Fitzgerald steps down. [1]
Like Fitzgerald did, Theis serves on the Cook Judicial Circuit. She has been a judge on the Illinois First District Appellate Court since 1994. Prior to that, she served as a municipal judge, then associate judge, then circuit judge in Cook County. [3]
