According to the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee, a judge may accept, for official use, a complimentary subscription to state statutes and appellate and supreme court opinions contained on CD-ROM from a publishing company. Ethics Opinion No. 95-7 (April 18, 1995).

"It should be noted," the committee opined, "that if a judge accepts a gift of books or publications on CD-ROM having a value in excess of $100.00, the name of the donor and a description of the gift must be disclosed on the judge's annual declaration of economic interests * * *."

Says committee chairman David A. Youck: "We think Illinois citizens should be able to access, at no cost to them, the laws which they are expected to obey."

You can review other states' laws at http://www.legalonline.com/statute2.htm. If you have an idea how to fill the "curious gap between Idaho and Indiana," please communicate with Judge Youck. His electronic address (and that of committee members Dennis J. Jacobsen, James M. Bumgarner, Joseph G. Kazmierski, Jr., William Madden, and David L. Sauer) may be found at http://ija.org/commelec.htm.

McMorrow greeted judges and attorneys attending Friday's annual luncheon. She complimented outgoing President William G. Schwartz on a successful term, and lauded incoming President Mary Jane Theis, whom she called "my nominee" for the appellate court.

Justice McMorrow commended the Association's theme of the role of the judiciary in the community. Educating the public as to why we do what we do as judges, McMorrow said, can help stem the erosion of reverence for the justice system.

Judge Gloria Coco, who co-chaired the widely praised convention with Judge Patrick E. McGann, introduced Kurtis, the keynote speaker. The winner of 20 Emmy awards and one of the most popular news anchors in Chicago's history, Kurtis now produces American Justice, Investigative Reports, and The New Explorers on the Arts and Entertainment television network.

Kurtis told of his own community outreach "epiphany," when turning on a tv set brought attentive silence to a previously chaotic inner-city classroom. Television, he realized, was these students' window to the world, and the key to communicating with them. He suggested that television may be equally effective in conveying the message of the judiciary.

Courts sometimes do not hear all the facts, and history is always subject to revision. These were among the themes of the New Explorers program "Betrayal at Little Big Horn," which Kurtis previewed for the luncheon audience.

In 1879, three years after Custer's "last stand," an Army board of inquiry cleared Major Reno of charges of cowardice and disobedience. He testified that he had been unaware of the battle which broke out after his 7th Cavalry was separated from Custer.

But modern acoustical testing and evidentiary discrepancies suggest that Reno perjured himself.

Other highlights of the convention included a lively panel discussion among Judges Bertina E. Lampkin, Jeanne E. Scott, and non-judges about ethical pitfalls when judges venture off the bench; first-person accounts of community-oriented and alternative sentencing programs by Judges Stuart A. Nudelman and Edward C. Ferguson; legislative updates on juvenile, criminal, and traffic law by Judges Nancy Sidote- Salyers and Dan Locallo; and Judge Richard Kavitt on the "nuts and bolts" of deferred compensation and flexible spending accounts.

[The articles about the convention and the meeting of the board of directors are based upon reports from Judge Daniel T. Gillespie, former editor of The Gavel, IJA immediate past president Judge William G. Schwartz, and retired Judge Arlie O. Boswell, Jr. The full text of Justice McMorrow's remarks are set out on the IJA home page at http://ija.org/mcmorrow.htm.]

In other business before the board: Newly installed President Mary Jane Theis praised the Supreme Court for its involvement in the annual meeting; complimented past president William G. Schwartz for an outstanding year of reorganization; commended Executive Secretary Kathy McEnroe; and congratulated Patrick McGann and Gloria Coco for their work on the convention.

Dan Gillespie was presented a plaque recognizing his outstanding service as editor of The Gavel.

Tim Slavin introduced our public relations person, Chris Ruys, who detailed her firm's efforts to date to publicize the Illinois judiciary (70-plus print media placements of substantive feature stories) as well as future plans directed at the schools and the electronic media.

Thomas Sumner discussed a survey of associate judges in which 50 per cent of the respondents said the Association was not meeting their needs. President Theis indicated that the IJA should focus on associate judges in planning strategy for the compensation review board.

Richard Kavitt reported on health benefits and pensions, and Ray Jagielski and Retired Justice William Quinlan reported on judicial evaluations.

Stuart Nudelman advised that the community relations committee will be conducting a survey of chief judges throughout the state regarding community programs already in place.

Michael Galasso discussed the strategies of the governmental affairs committee for dealing with the compensation review board and legislators this spring.

Retired Judge Phil Benefiel raised the possibility of Illinois instituting senior status for retired judges, along the lines of the federal and Missouri programs. President Theis requested that the retired judges committee submit a written proposal.

The next board meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 12, 1998, in Springfield.

1998 brings new challenges and opportunities. The Compensation Review Board will present its report to the General Assembly this spring. For almost a year Mike Galasso and Tim Evans have been preparing our Springfield strategies. One proven tactic has been to explore judges' relationships with legislators. In the coming months we will be gathering information from our members to use in our lobbying efforts. The Conference of Chief Judges has been a great resource in the past, and we hope to work closely with them on compensation and other issues, including our new community relations program.

As the IJA has grown, so have its financial obligations. In July, our new Budget Committee made several recommendations to professionalize our accounting and our expenditures. However, it was clear a dues increase was necessary to allow the IJA to continue to grow. At the mid-year meeting in Springfield, the Board of Directors voted to increase the dues to $150. This was the first dues increase in memory and some of us have very long memories!

I invite you to join me and your brothers and sisters on the bench in the activities of the Illinois Judges Association. If you have been a member, please consider becoming more involved in our committees. If you have not joined before, please make this the year.