Heiple impeachment panel to begin work next week

SPRINGFIELD A House panel investigating the possible impeachmentof Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice James Heiple will organizeearly next week and begin hearing testimony the following week, thepanel's co-chairman said Tuesday.

In Chicago, Gov. Edgar signaled support for the impeachmentprobe because it will provide for a public airing of the allegationsfacing Heiple, unlike at his disciplinary hearing earlier this month.

The House late Monday voted to create a 10-member, bipartisancommittee to investigate whether there is cause to impeach Heiple forallegedly using clout to avoid speeding tickets and improperlyshaping the disciplinary commission judging him.Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), co-chairman of thecommittee, said the panel will hold an organizational meeting inSpringfield either Monday or Tuesday to draft ground rules forinvestigating Heiple."We want to make sure we have good solid rules of evidence andprocedure, and we want to establish a schedule for hearings, whichprobably will begin the week after next," Currie said.It is possible the committee will meet daily and perhaps onweekends in order to meet a May 12 deadline to determine whetherthere is justification to impeach Heiple, Currie said.Currie said she also would like the committee to hear directlyfrom Rep. Gwenn Klingler (R-Springfield), sponsor of the impeachmentprobe, on why Heiple ought to be ousted."My view is that we should not be on a fishing expedition. Iwould like to hear from the sponsor of the resolution what itemsmerit our investigation," Currie said.Klingler said that Heiple's testimony before the Houseimpeachment panel is vital. If the chief justice refuses to appear,Klingler predicted either she or other Heiple critics wouldimmediately seek to proceed with an impeachment vote.Neither Heiple nor his attorney, George Mahoney III, could bereached Tuesday.Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported Tuesday that Heiple'sadministrative assistant landed a job as the highest-paid staffattorney in the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts. LiamBrennan, 29, three years out of law school, began making $53,864 inFebruary, 19 percent more than the average pay of the four otherstaff attorneys, the report said.Heiple already had come under fire for appointing a friend ashead of the Illinois Courts Commission, which is looking into chargesagainst him, and for appointing an Appellate Court justice as courtadministrator.Contributing: David Roeder