UPDATE: Tom Dart's Office Covers Up Fake Judge - Negro Cook County Judge Valarie Turner removed after allegedly allowing lawyer Rhonda Crawford to hear cases, wear judge's robe - She is a proud member & board member of BWLA - Black Women Lawyers' Association of Greater Chicago, Inc.

UPDATE:

Cook County Sheriff Deputy Mario Lozano knew something was not quite right.

A 28-year veteran of the Cook County sheriff's office, Deputy Lozano had stepped out of Judge Valarie Turner's lower-level courtroom at the Markham Courthouse for a moment to answer a question from a member of the public.  Her report was squashed by Tom Dart's office....

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart's office attempted to cover-up Judge scandal at the Markham Courthouse.. Numerous sources saying a Deputy wrote a memo stating Judge was allowing her friend to wear a robe and play Judge on the bench. The Deputy's memo was never reported by the Sheriff's office.. The Sheriff's office is now claiming they did not know if Judge was running a "training" exercise.. Numerous sources say this is a lie cause Sheriff Dart blew a gasket today in his office as he just learned the Deputy documented the incident..

CLICK FOR THE COVER UP ARTICLE
------------------------------------------
It's not my fault! Colored folks have a hard time getting up early in the morning! 

A veteran Negro Cook County Circuit Court judge allegedly allowed a lawyer who is running for election to the bench to wear her robe and hear some of her cases at the Markham courthouse late last week, a breach of judicial ethics as well as a potential violation of the law.

The move prompted the county's chief judge, Timothy Evans, to remove the judge from the bench Wednesday until further notice.

The incident occurred in the courtroom of Judge Valarie Turner, who allegedly allowed lawyer Rhonda Crawford to take her place on the bench during her morning call of cases, Evans said in a statement. It is not clear if people appearing for cases knew of the situation in the courtroom.

Turner, a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Chicago law school, is a former federal prosecutor who also worked as an associate with the Kirkland & Ellis law firm. First elected to the bench in 2002, she hears municipal cases in Markham.

Crawford, records show, works for the office of Chief Judge Timothy Evans. In March, she handily defeated two opponents in the Democratic primary for the 1st Judicial Subcircuit, which includes parts of the South Side of Chicago and some of the south suburbs.

She is unopposed in the November general election.

The incident shocked judicial ethics experts, who said it would be such an ethical lapse — and possibly a violation of the law for the impersonation of a judge — they were surprised any judge would allow it, and any lawyer would actually take the bench. It also raised a host of issues, from questions about the validity of any judgment Crawford might have rendered to the cost and inconvenience of rehearing cases she handled.

CLICK FOR MORE