Controversial judge plans to retire

June 24, 2006

A judge who once upheld a speeding ticket given to a woman in labor, told two young girls they would "go to hell" if they lied on the stand and denied a woman a bathroom break before she soiled herself is stepping down from the bench.

Cook County Judge James T. Ryan, one of Cook County's most controversial judges, notified court officials of his retirement plans June 14. His last day is July 7, officials said.

The 71-year-old Republican hears small claims cases at the Rolling Meadows Courthouse.

He was re-elected in 2002 despite getting the thumbs-down from eight lawyers' group. The Chicago Bar Association said he was "undoubtedly intelligent" but lacked "the necessary temperament, compassion and judgment" to serve.

"Judge Ryan's insensitivity to the dignity of litigants who have appeared in his courtroom has brought the integrity of the legal system into question," the bar association wrote.

The former mayor of Arlington Heights' courtroom antics have been well chronicled.

In 1999, he was reassigned from traffic court to small claims court, in part after he refused to let a Schaumburg woman leave the courtroom to use the bathroom. The woman, who was having digestive problems, then soiled herself.

Earlier that year, Ryan made national headlines when he fined a Streamwood woman $95 for speeding to the hospital to give birth.

And in 2000, he warned two sisters, ages 8 and 12, about the consequences of lying on the stand during a court battle over a $312 veterinarian's bill. The girls' mom said Ryan told them: "You realize if you lie, you will go to hell."

Ryan at the time said he spoke kindly and with respect to the kids.

"I might have said, 'It was conceivable you could go to hell,' though I don't remember exactly," he said. "Sometimes people misperceive what I'm trying to do."

Ryan did not return phone calls Friday.