September 20, 2023: In just under seven weeks from today, Judge Robert K. Adrian will be the respondent in a hearing before the Illinois Courts Commission in response to a complaint against Judge Adrian which was filed with the Commission by the Judicial Inquiry Board of Illinois. To read why, exactly, the JIB submitted a complaint against Adrian, a judge in the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Illinois, please follow this link.

Actually, it's three complaints.
And the complaints are:

1. Reversed Finding of Guilt to Prevent the Defendant from Service A Mandatory Prison Sentence;
2. Retaliate Against Prosecutor for Agreeing with Critical Comments About Him; and
3. Respondent's False and Misleading Testimony Before the Judicial Inquiry Board.

It appears that the relief prayed is that the Commission "make such order in accordance with Section 15 of Article VI of the Illinois Constitution.

You can read Section 15 of Article VI of the Illinois Constitution by following this link.

In his retention campaign speech, Judge Adrian again affirmed that he believed his attempted ruling reversal was a good decision and he vowed to do similar for other litigants facing criminal sexual assault charges in the future. 

Our prayer is that the State of Illinois uphold its own laws and remove this man from his position of authority in our community, because he clearly does not follow or respect Illinois Compiled Statutes as written by the Illinois General Assembly, he does not respect the boundaries of his authority as granted by the State of Illinois, and he does not respect us.

Please sign our petition as a show of solidarity for this cause - for the victim in the People of Illinois v. Drew Clinton, and also for all victims of sexual assault who are not protected by the very people who are most in charge of holding rapists accountable.

Read on and follow our comments to learn more about our journey.

The most sincere thanks for each and every person who has been involved with our journey, whether Day 1 was in May 2021, or January 2022, or if it was today -- every day is a good day to start standing up for what matters.

Keep keeping the faith.
All the best,
#StandWithCammy

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Watch the July 12, 2022 Stand with Cammy protest as Judge Robert Adrian purposefully exploits the Drew Clinton controversy to gain attention for his Retention Campaign

July 12, 2022: Robert Adrian is running for retention of his seat on the bench in the Eighth Circuit Court of Illinois, but he has lost the public's trust. Adrian currently has one open complaint filed by the Judicial Inquiry Board. We want Robert Adrian to be removed from office for acting against the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct and for abusing his position of authority. Please read our story and updates for more information.

Memorial Day weekend 2021, a 16 year old girl went to a party. She swam in her underwear. She drank too much, became ill, and passed out on a couch by herself. When she woke up, her face was being pushed into a pillow and a person was sexually assaulting her in the form of vaginal penetration. 

She immediately left the scene and woke up friends who were sleeping in a nearby room. They left the house where they had been sleeping and reported the rape to a trusted adult the next morning.

The perpetrator of this sexual assault, Drew S. Clinton, who has ties to both the Detroit, Michigan, area and also Quincy, Illinois, area was 18 years old at the time. He was arrested and confirmed that it was true he had penetrated the victim sexually. He was charged with three counts of criminal sexual assault, to which he pled "not guilty," with his defense being he had believed the encounter to be consensual. 

At the conclusion of a Bench Trial, on October 15, 2021, Drew S. Clinton was found guilty on one count of criminal sexual assault for digitally penetrating the victim. He was found not guilty of the other two counts.  

Judge Robert "Bob" Adrian was the judge who ruled Drew S. Clinton is guilty of criminal sexual assault.

However, on January 3, 2022, this very same Judge Adrian reversed his own ruling and declared the defendant was not guilty. In addition, Judge Adrian made a number of intensely gross remarks concerning this case, the victim and her family, and women in general. 

These are some of the remarks Judge Adrian made that have been released to the public:

"This happened when this teenager … was two weeks past 18 years old. He has no prior record, none whatsoever. By law, the court is supposed to sentence this young man to the Department of Corrections. This court will not do that. That is not just. There is no way for what happened in this case that this teenager should go to the Department of Corrections. I will not do that.”

“Mr. Clinton has served almost five months in the county jail, 148 days. For what happened in this case, that is plenty of punishment."

"The court is going to reconsider its verdict and is going to find the defendant not guilty. Therefore, the defendant will be released from custody. Bond will be discharged."

“This is what happens when parents do not exercise their parental responsibilities, when we have people, adults, having parties for teenagers, and they allow coeds and female people to swim in their underwear in their swimming pool. And, no, underwear is not the same as swimming suits. They allowed 16-year-olds to bring liquor to a party. They provided liquor to underage people, and you wonder how these things happen. Well, that’s how these things happen. The court is totally disgusted with that whole thing."

These statements set the precedent that if a victim swims in their underwear and drinks alcohol, "these things happen." They say if a perpetrator is being caught for the first time, he believes they should get a mulligan. They say that Judge Adrian reversed his own ruling because he simply did not want to hand down the sentence that is associated with the crime to which he himself had already found the perpetrator guilty. 

That is not how the law is to operate.

Judge Adrian does not have the authority to change the law because he wants to. His job is to uphold and defend the law.

There is no contest that Drew S. Clinton did sexually penetrate the victim. There was no contest that the victim was 16 years old at the time. By that simple fact alone, the victim was legally unable to offer sexual consent under any circumstances. Additionally, intoxicated persons are not able to offer consent.

The sexual assault this young girl experienced is egregious in and of itself - but what Judge Adrian has said and done to not only this survivor but to ALL current and future sexual assault survivors and their loved ones is an irreconcilable deviation from both the spirit and the letter of the law. If he does not have faith and consistency in his own rulings, there is no reason for the public to respect his continuance in the position of power as an authority of the law. 

For the reprehensible precedent Judge Adrian has set by not upholding the law, we ask that you censure, suspend, and/or remove him from his position in the Eighth Circuit Court in Illinois.

FURTHER READINGS:
Guilty, then not guilty: Judge causes tempest by changing verdict in criminal sexual assault case, delivering rebuke from bench – Muddy River News

Statement on the Recent Sexual Assault Case in Judge Adrian’s Courtroom - Quanada

Judge criticized for reversing teen’s sexual assault verdict, saying 148 days in jail is ‘plenty’ - Washington Post

‘In 15 minutes he destroyed all the healing’: Father blasts judge for ‘muzzling’ daughter by reversing rape verdict - The Independent