Will County Gazette

John Anderson, a Will County judge and Democratic candidate for a seat on Third District Appellate Court, has a rap sheet that spans thirty years, and his numerous run-ins with the law are there for voters to see at recklessjohn.com.

The website, which includes a short video, shows that Anderson, 53, has had 33 run-ins with law enforcement and 25 guilty pleas and convictions for, among other offenses, reckless driving, transportation of open alcohol in a vehicle, driving on a suspended license, over twenty excessive speeding charges, and driving with expired plates and no insurance.

“He breaks the very laws he is supposed to uphold,” a voice-over says on the website. 

The site is sponsored by the campaign of Anderson’s opponent, Kenton Skarin, a Republican judge on the 18th Judicial Circuit Court in DuPage County.

“The offenses are as recent as 2019,” Skarin told Will County Gazette in a phone conversation. “We put it out there so voters know that someone running for judge has a pattern of ignoring the law.”

Responding to an email asking for comment on the website, Anderson said that he “made no secret that he was once an angry, rudderless young man.”

“I had bad grades. I was even homeless and lived on my friend’s couch in a cockroach-infested apartment in Joliet,” he said. “I turned my life around after a member of my family was murdered in an act of gun violence. These experiences taught me empathy, integrity, and the value of hard work.”

Skarin has been a judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit, a trial court covering the western suburbs of Chicago, for the past five-and-a-half years. Before that he practiced appellate law in the Chicago Office of Jones Day. He graduated first in his class from Northwestern University School of Law. 

Noting that state Supreme Court rules require judicial candidates to maintain impartiality on issues when campaigning, Skarin said that he would follow rule of law “regardless of politics” while on the court.

“I’m wearing a black robe not a red or blue robe,” he said.

For his part, Anderson said that he has two masters and two law degrees.

“My biggest passion in the law is making our court system more user friendly for those who cannot afford a lawyer,” he said. “I helped raise $40 million for organizations that provide free legal aid to those who cannot afford an attorney. And, I am supported by law enforcement and was even named ‘Judicial Officer of the Year by the Illinois State Crime Commission.”

Anderson has been endorsed by the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Senate Dick Durbin, the DuPage Progressive Alliance, and the Will County Progressives.

Skarin’s campaign site notes that the “Third District Appellate Court provides justice for some two million people in the Chicago suburbs and out into the country” in seven counties including DuPage, Will, Grundy, LaSalle, Kankakee, Bureau, and Iroquois Counties.

“In other words, if you live within a hundred fifty miles to the west or south of Chicago, there’s a good chance you live in the Third District,” the website says.

Early voting began on September 26 and ends on November 5.