Rippy Gag Orders Used To Soften Criticism Of GOP Judges: Opinion

JOLIET, IL — It's practically unheard of for judges at the Will County Courthouse to issue gag orders to ban the prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys from talking about a case with the press. It's even more unusual for one of Will County's judges to issue a gag order on his or her own, without one of the attorneys making such a request. However, first-term Plainfield Republican Daniel Rippy, who was elected by the voters as a Will County Circuit Court judge in 2014, is making a name for himself at the courthouse as being the go-to judge to quell any harsh criticism of his fellow Republican judicial colleagues, a Joliet Patch analysis found.

Last week, Rippy imposed a gag order in the murder case of District 86's Washington Junior High teacher Michael Kazecki. Last September, Rippy issued a similar gag order in the reckless homicide case involving defendant Sean Woulfe of Beecher. Woulfe, now 26, was involved in the crash at a rural intersection in Beecher that killed Lindsey Schmidt, her unborn child, and her three small sons in late July 2017.

In both high-profile criminal cases, Rippy issued his gag order only after the criminal defendants had posted bail and his fellow Republican judges were becoming the recipients of widespread criticism and outrage from voters, who were disgusted that the judges didn't support the recommended bail sought by prosecutors.

On Tuesday, Patch left a message with the judge's staff seeking comment from Rippy for this column, but he did not respond.

Before being elected to Will County's bench four years ago, Rippy served on Plainfield's Village Board. Rippy also worked as an attorney in private practice at Tomczak Law Group. He was a criminal prosecutor during Jeff Tomczak's one-term as State's Attorney, 2001 to 2004.

Judge Rippy GAG ORDER CASE 1: The Beecher Tragedy

The July 24, 2017 Beecher tragedy killed 29-year-old Lindsey Schmidt, who was also pregnant with her fourth child. Her three other children, Kaleb, Owen and Weston, all died as a result of the horrific crash.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow filed 16 separate counts of reckless homicide against Sean Woulfe. At the time an arrest warrant was issued, Will County's Chief Circuit Court Judge Richard Schoenstedt set bail at $1 million. Will County's Sheriff's Department took Woulfe into custody at 11:47 a.m. on Aug. 22.

Three days later, Woulfe was out on the street, following a decision made by Will County Circuit Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes to overrule the chief judge.

Aug. 25, 2017: Policandriotes, a Shorewood Republican, lowers Woulfe's bail from $1 million to $250,000. About three hours after her courtroom ruling, Woulfe's family came up with $25,000 to bail him out of jail. He was released from custody at 4:54 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25, 2017.

When Policandriotes lowered Woulfe's bail, she rejected the arguments put forth by Assistant State's Attorney Jim Long. He argued Woulfe should not have his $1 million bail lowered under any circumstances. According to Long, the sheriff's department's investigation determined Woulfe was actually traveling 83 mph when he blew through the stop sign at the rural intersection, killing the Schmidt family.

And this wasn't Woulfe's first instance involving excessive speeding, Long informed the court. In May 2012, Woulfe got court supervision after being busted for driving 91 mph in a 55-mph zone in Manteno, Long noted. The intersection of the horrific crash was rural, an area used by farmers, tractors and people hauling livestock. "This is not an expressway or a highway," Long explained in court.

ORIGINAL PATCH COVERAGE: Woulfe Makes Bail, No Longer Jailed In Beecher Tragedy

Patch reader reaction:

• "Jesus Christopher Will County voters - what is it going to take to get this judge off of the bench? At this point, I don't know if Judge Carla runs for election or is simply 'retained' via votes. In any case, she is clearly not good for the citizens of our County. Next election round, whatever her role is, why not get a group of citizens and start protesting her? People always forget the prior incompetence by the time election comes around."
• "To reduce that bond from 1 million to 250k is less than considering this husband/father, the mother, and those four innocent babies that never had a chance at a full and prosperous life. It's like she made that family not even an afterthought."
• "She's chosen to reduce his bail tremendously, by three quarters of what another judge originally set it at. That was not applying the law, that was her choice. She could have went half. She chose otherwise."

Sept. 14, 2017

Judge Rippy Intervenes, Issues Gag Order

Woulfe's felony reckless homicide case was sent to Judge Rippy's courtroom 402.

Minutes of the Sept. 14, 2017 court hearing show the defendant was arraigned on a multi-count bill of indictment, the matter was continued on the motion of the defendant's private counsel, George Lenard, and "On the court's motion, both the State and Defense are prohibited from speaking with the news media in relation to this case throughout its pendency, except in regards to matters that are of public record."

The following month, the Illinois Supreme Court was notified Judge Policandriotes was retiring in the middle of her current six-year term, rather than staying to finish her term through December 2020.

Judge Rippy GAG ORDER CASE 2: Michael Kazecki Case

The Joliet Police Department charged Michael Kazecki, 38, with first-degree murder in the Aug. 7 death of his wife, Becky. Both were public school teachers for District 86.

On Aug. 8, Long asked Will County Associate Judge Ben Braun to set a $5 million bail given the serious and violent nature of the homicide. The prosecutor said Becky Kazecki was beaten to death over a period of three days, and she was unresponsive on the floor of their McDonough Street home when her husband called 911, claiming his wife had injured herself.

Prosecutors told Judge Braun that Michael Kazecki punched, kicked and struck his wife.

The defendant's lawyer, Nathaniel Tate of the Edward Jaquays Law Firm in Joliet, asked Braun to set "a reasonable" bail, noting his client had no prior criminal history and worked as a school teacher.

After hearing arguments, Braun set bail at $2 million. The judge then informed the defendant over the video feed from the Will County Jail that he needed to come up with $200,000 cash in order to post bond.

ORIGINAL PATCH COVERAGE: Braun Sets $2 Million Bail for Joliet Teacher Facing Murder

About three weeks later, on Aug. 30, relatives came up with $200,000 as a result of a wire transfer, court documents show. Michael Kazecki's release from custody on first-degree murder charges drew substantial press coverage in the Joliet Patch, The Joliet Herald-News and The Chicago Tribune. The Patch article informed readers that Braun set bail at 60 percent less than what the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow sought. The Patch article also pointed out for readers that Braun is involved in a high-profile political campaign this fall.

The Frankfort Republican is running against fellow Associate Judge David Garcia, a Democrat, to fill one of the open Circuit Court positions at the Will County Courthouse in November's general election.

Reader Reaction:

• "What goes on in Will County? Brutally murders his wife. Paid leave and out on bail, no problem posting 200K bail ... Once again, we don't really give one hoot if he had no priors. Would love to get inside Braun's head and figure out why he did that. Can't make him too popular in November. These circuit court judges are doing real well in this country."
• "Weird how this judge apparently can empathize with a wife beaters mentality."
• "Joliet is clearly as corrupt as Chicago. First the guy lies and blames her death on an alcohol induced incident, then he admits to abusing his kids and killing his wife. Dude goes to jail. Then, he gets lucky and gets an "ASSociate" Judge who isn't interested at all in Justice because if he was that bail would/should have been more on the high end ... So disgusting. First off, everyone that votes needs to remember this Judge for being weak."

Judge Rippy Intervenes Sept. 5, Issues Gag Order

Five days after Kazecki posted bail, Circuit Judge Rippy informed lawyers for both sides that he had decided to issue a gag order in the pending murder case now assigned to his courtroom.

"On the court's own motion, based on the high-profile status of this case and prior media coverage, a gag order is imposed on all parties to this case. Except as to matters of public record," Rippy's order states.

PATCH COVERAGE: Gag Order In 'High-Profile Joliet Murder Case

One Patch reader reacted to news of the gag order and commented, "This is what happens when Plainfield politicians are allowed out into the real world. Everyone gets to suffer, and all they care about is protecting themselves at the expense of the public."

File image of Dan Rippy on Plainfield Village Board, via Plainfield Patch