ARDC Complaint in Re: Robert Knox Adrian
It's been driving us absolutely crazy not being able to publicly share this update and we've been checking the ARDC website every day to see it go up.
Ladies and gentlemen, today's the day: Officially, publicly, we are able to share with you the news that the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) of Illinois has filed complaints against ex-judge Robert Adrian. The complaints allege Adrian lied under oath before a tribunal a multitude of times.
We're beyond the moon that the ARDC is taking this up.
At this time, Adrian has voluntarily retired his licensure to practice law, however this complaint process is important because as it stands, at this time he still possibly retains the option to voluntarily reinstate his license. And we don't like that. The idea this man could wait for the "crazy internet PR firm mob full of cancel culture woke liberals" [ad lib Adrian quote] heat to die down and then get back to his version of business as usual is unsettling.
We're unsure what remedies the Hearing Board has available for use at their discretion, but we have been assured there must be further remedies available or they would not have furthered the complaints.
We will keep you posted!
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Secondly,
because this is a valid feeling and we would like to address it, this comment was recently left on our petition's page:
"Where is the help for other women and minors when they're forced to face corrupt judges in Adams County, Illinois?? (The ones still ruling from the bench). Where is the help when they tear apart families and fail to protect minors from their abusers? Where are "the people" to help?? Not all of us are fortunate enough to have the backing of a town to help throw out a corrupt judge."
...It is absolutely true that women, minors, and families are being mistreated by the judicial system - in Adams County Illinois, and also in just about every single county and state in the nation, I'd wager. Going up before a judge is scary, and it doesn't help when some of the judges don't follow the laws or protect our rights. It's one of those places where reality falls disgustingly and unacceptably short. And it does bother us that we ("we") personally do not have the physical time or resources to advocate for all the absolutely worthy and important stories that unfold around us in our own community every single day. And, speaking as an individual - as a woman who has experienced domestic violence firsthand and been told by police it would be nearly impossible to prosecute my assailant because he lived across the State line in Missouri so I'd probably be better off just making sure to stay away from him; as a defendant in a separate case where a judge made a ruling I am positive was not the right decision for my family but now am legally ordered to follow said decision; as a mother; as a resident of Quincy Illinois, I want to say, I hear you. Your sentiment of frustration, that sometimes justice prevails and sometimes it doesn't, is one we have felt as well. Because justice is always supposed to prevail. The moniker I chose, "The People" was maybe to bolster my own confidence as a strength in numbers idea, but realistically, what kept this story alive was an intensely small inner circle of a very few individuals who would not concede to allowing it to get swept under the rug. It was trying again, and again, and again, and spending a lot of private hours pouring over the Compiled Statutes of Illinois, and contacting countless news desks, and calling an absurd number of offices, and getting nowhere for months and years, and being told it was the end of the road so, so, so many times...... we're not a PR firm. We're not legal representation. We're not even a clearly defined group or entity - we're a loose handful of private citizens led by a teenager and her parents. And I always felt like that was an important facet of this story that people need to hear, that we are people just like you. Every tool that we utilized is publicly accessible. And yes, it is supposed to be the case that the judiciary exists and we pay them for the express purpose of knowing and upholding the laws so private citizens do not need be legal experts to be treated fairly - but as we see clearly demonstrated before us, that trust has been abused; sometimes the money for the job is taken but the job is not performed.
I just felt like I needed to tell this person and others whom I am sure have felt a similar sentiment, that everyone deserves to be treated fairly - you're right. And in my opinion, what gets us all closer to there is when we bravely share our stories; when we refuse to be silent, or stop because we've been told to give up; when we educate ourselves and people around us as to what our rights truly are; when we encourage each other to be bold and take action. And realistically, as incredibly unfair as it is, the right thing will still not always happen every time. But we can keep trying. You only have to get up one more time than you get knocked down. It isn't fair to criticize this story for its success unless you are prepared to listen to several years chock full of failures endured to get to that point, sir or ma'am. But if you reach out to us via our still-existent Facebook community group, we would be very happy to listen to any and all situations that anyone would be interested in sharing. There was never any promise of attaining any satisfactory end to our strictly volunteer involvement with this story, and I'm unsure if we could provide any true help in any other stories, but we can hear you. We can listen. We can provide feedback. I assure you, we do care.
As to "where The People are," I like to believe they are all around us and we just don't always know it because too many of us have been silenced and beat down and told to fall in line or else we'll look too crazy and be too loud and upset too many people. We're here, we just need to remember that we are here to build up a legitimate community. And I know being in a place where you've been hurt and been wronged makes it a hell of a lot harder to engage, but we are here. We are listening. We will keep trying to hear you.
Please be good to yourselves and each other - we can't make it perfect. But we can make it better.
"The People"
#StandWithCammy