After eight years, openly gay city attorney John Ehrlich has announced that he is back for more. Ehrlich, who lost his election for judge in the 8th Judicial Subcircuit in 2003, is throwing his hat into the race a second time.
The Northwestern University School of Law grad boasts a history of HIV/AIDS activism with the AIDS Living Remembrance Project (a now-defunct organization) as well as a list of major court cases for the city of Chicago in his role as head of the city's torts division.
Windy City Times caught up with Ehrlich to find out what he has learned since his last run; what biases he sees in the judiciary against LGBT people; and where he thinks the judiciary could improve.
Windy City Times: So John, you work for the city currently.
John Ehrlich: Currently, my position is deputy corporation council. I'm deputy of the Torts Division, which means I am head of the group that defends in all personal injury and wrongful-death cases. So [it could be] anything from the simpler cases—like someone tripping and falling on a sidewalk—all the way up to much more complicated cases, such as representing our physicians in medical malpractice cases. We represent the police department in all police pursuits. It's a whole big range of cases from pretty small to quite large.
WCT: And why are you eying the 8th Subcircuit in particular?
JE: Well, I think it's easier to run in a subcircuit than it is countywide. Also, I hope that I am going to be able to get a lot of support from the community because the subcircuit includes Andersonville, Lakeview and the South Loop, where a lot of LGBT [people] live.
WCT: You have said that you learned a lot by running the first time. What did you learn from your last campaign?
JE: One is that I'm not really a politician. I'm a lawyer, so for me to run as a politician is somewhat difficult. I've had to recognize that if you want to be a judge, you have to do a certain bit of politicking to get there. That doesn't diminish me as a lawyer. I'm just doing something else to get to the goal that I would like to achieve.
Secondly, there is so much that is not under your control. I feel much more freedom this time around. I'm having a great time so far because I'm not letting all the other things that I can't control bother me or worry me.
WCT: The landscape has changed for the LGBT community since your last run.
JE: At least for our community, things are very different because obviously we now have a domestic partner law. I think there are some things that need to be changed in the Pattern Jury Instructions because they don't properly reflect those changes in the law.
And the other thing that I would like to change … is what they call "cautionary instructions." They have them in New York and California where they not just say that you can't allow bias, prejudice and sympathy to… come into play in how you make your decision. But in those two states, for instance, they have an additional sentence that they add where they define bias and prejudice so that it includes things like sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, etcetera so that people are explicitly told what that means. I think that's something we should also have in Illinois.
WCT: Would a judge really be able to affect those changes directly?
JE: Well, anybody could write a letter to the Supreme Court. I think it has a bit more potency when it comes from an actual sitting judge. So that would certainly be something that I would like to do if I were elected.
WCT: You are a member of the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago, and the association asks candidates what they see as a deprivation of rights for LGBT people under the law. So I'd like to ask you, how would you answer that question yourself?
JE: I think where problems have arisen is not necessarily overt prejudice or bias against LGBT people. The prejudice and bias now are much more subtle. And I think it's motivated now by a lack of understanding. So if there is a deprivation of rights, it is in and of itself a subtle issue because it's not as obvious, and you have to look more carefully to find it. But I think it's there. I think it's something the judiciary has to work at. I think that judges need to be more sensitized to understand where people are coming from, including members of the LGBT community and their stories.
WCT: Aside from LGBT issues, what does the judiciary need to be focused on right now?
JE: I think there's been an overall change in mood, not only in the country but certainly in the state of Illinois, and it seems like the judiciary has been put upon. I think the only way to combat that is for the judiciary to be more involved in the community, whether that means going out to schools and talking to young kids about the judicial system and what courts do. Having a more visible presence in the community and not just something that, "Oh here's this building where a bunch of judges sit and nobody really knows what they do." So I think the judiciary needs to promote itself more in society.
WCT: What is the first thing you want people to know about you in this race?
JE: I want people to know that I'm a very hard worker, that I take every job that I have extremely seriously. The other thing is I hope that people would realize in my job I've been entrusted with some of the largest litigation in the city's history.
