Maag Quote

As I point out in my comment over on Schaeffer's "Notes from the (Legal) Underground," Gordon Maag was fairly clear on his thoughts about First Amendment freedoms in his Statement of Candidacy, provided to ICJL in early 2004 (and available at www.illinoisjudges2004.com).

In his statement, Maag states:

"Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential to our democracy. Robust public debate and complete and accurate publication of newsworthy events is critical to a free society."

Maag also wrote the following about his $2000 per contributor fundraising pledge:

"There should not even be a hint that large corporations or wealthy individuals, be they doctors, lawyers, or businessmen enjoy a special status. In contrast, my opponent’s campaign spokesman has announced that his committee will not adopt any contribution limits. This speaks volumes about Lloyd Karmeier’s integrity and independence."

Maag's limit and pledge was certainly broken by the nearly $2.5 million in (mostly in-kind) contributions from the Democratic Party of Illinois (I won't even take the space to analyze the myriad of $100,000 contributions from local trial lawyers to DPI) and the nearly $1.3 million from Justice for All PAC (funded mostly by trial lawyers).