Justice Lloyd Karmeier of Illinois; compliant lackey  

The state of Illinois presented Lloyd A. Karmeier with a law license in 1964 after he graduated from the University of Illinois Law School.

In 2004, Lloyd succeeded in duping the voters of Illinois into electing him as an Associate Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.

Since receiving his law license in 1964, Lloyd has had his significant snout firmly implanted in the public trough for a total of thirty-nine (39) years.

As we speak (ca. February 2015), the Illinois Supreme Court is set to hear a $10.1 billion appeal by the parent company of Phillip Morris USA, which brings to light new questions about Justice Karmeier’s impartiality.

The plaintiffs in the class-action case against Phillip Morris are attempting to remove Karmeier by citing in part $500,000 in contributions by Altria Group, Phillip Morris’ parent company, to group that supported Karmeier in his November 2014 reelection, when he narrowly escaped defeat. The $500,000 in contributions was made in October 2014, shortly after the Supreme Court decided to hear Phillip Morris’ appeal.

On election night in November 2014, Karmeier suggested that he had already decided to rule in favor of Phillip Morris and openly criticized the $k1.8 billion in fees the plaintiffs’ lawyers would receive from the $10.1 billion judgment.

It is highly unlikely that Karmeier will do the right thing and withdraw from hearing the Phillips Morris case. After all, he does have a duty to protect the interests of the folks at Phillip Morris that purchased his services for $500,000 in 2014.

In 2009, the U.S. Surpeme Court ordered that the Chief Justice of the West Supreme Court, Robin Jean Davis step down from a case that involved a party that had made substantial political contributions to her election.

As of February 12, 2015, Justice Karmeier still remains on the case involving his financial benefactor, Phillip Morris.