2 months ago by Scott Hardy
Illinois Courts Commission rules that Judge Robert Adrian be removed over handling of 2022 case
An Adams County Judge has been ordered to step down after a ruling by the Illinois Courts Commission.
In a judgement released Friday, Judge Robert Adrian was ordered to be removed from the bench, over his handling of a sexual assault case in early 2022. Adrian faced three counts, and was found to have reversed a Guilty finding in early January 2022 against Drew Clinton, so he wouldn’t serve a mandatory sentence. Clinton was found Guilty by Adrian in the fall of 2021 on one count of sexual assault in a bench trial. Adrian was also found to have retaliated against Adams County Lead Trial Prosecutor Josh Jones several days after the reversal, by kicking him out of court for liking a post on social media critical of the reversal. Adrian also lied to the state Judicial Inquiry Board when he testified about the reversal. The Commission in its' ruling, cited several previous cases in which judges were removed from the bench, saying, "Commission precedent establishes that a flagrant pattern of misconduct, falsehoods, and a refusal to acknowledge any wrongdoing justifies removal from the bench. We apply these same principles here".
Adrian was first appointed to the bench in 2010, then won election, and was last re-elected in 2022. The full decision is available below.
