In Illinois, a trucking corporation, one of whose drivers was involved in an accident that killed a state trooper in 2012, has contributed to campaign funding raising questions about the legitimacy of the donation. The donations were for Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier who is up for reelection in November. This should not surprise you considering all the corruption emanating out of Chicago throughout the decades.
Rod Blagojevich was just the latest.
The Supreme Court leader is a Republican from Nashville, who is looking to get his 60 percent yes votes and continue with a second term as Chief Justice; the money donated by the trucking company would have obviously helped with that. While Karmeier’s campaign managers and the company’s representatives say there’s no impropriety in the donation, Belleville attorney Thomas Q. Keefe Jr., who is working as the truck driving accident attorney for the trooper’s family, begs to differ.
Wrongful Death
Trooper Kyle Deatherage was struck and killed by a tractor trailer on Interstate 55 near Raymond, two years ago. His widow Sarah Deatherage has been fighting for justice ever since. The trucking company DOT Transportation is based in Madison County, and Sarah has been trying to pursue her wrongful-death lawsuit on behalf of her husband in Madison County, but to no avail. Sarah says that Madison County is where the trucking company does "business every day", and there was an appeal in the Supreme Court by the company for a change of venue.
As the Chief Justice’s campaign reps put it, the Supreme Court’s only order so far in the case has been to direct an appellate court in Mount Vernon to consider the issue of where the suit should be heard. In return, the Vernon Court ruled that the case did not belong in a Madison County court as the trucking business apparently did not conduct any business in Madison!
Campaign Managers Rubbish Accusations
In a news conference on Tuesday, Sarah and her truck driving accident attorney Thomas Keefe were joined by about 50 supporters as they raised questions about whether it is all right for the Supreme Court Justice’s campaign to take money from a corporation like DOT which is under fire for a trooper’s death. Sarah also alleged that there was a link between the donations and the appellate court ruling that asked her to move her lawsuit outside of her home county.
Records show that Karmeier’s campaign has received $11,000 from DOT Transportation’s partner company DOT Foods. However, Karmeier’s campaign manager Ron Deedrick has been quick to point out that the Supreme Court order on Mrs. Deatherage’s lawsuit appeal was taken over a year ago and it was an unanimous order. He also says that the ruling from the Mount Vernon court was in no way influenced by Judge Karmeier’s actions and there is absolutely no link between what has transpired and the donations received by the campaign now.
The Deatherage family lawyer said that Sarah has a right to have her lawsuit heard in the county where the family has lived for generations. He also suggested that the DOT Transportation lawyers think that moving the case to a different county may have an impact on the outcome of the trial.
