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Judge must take training after banning law clerk from courthouse and threatening jail time

By Debra Cassens Weiss

August 29, 2024, 8:43 am CDT

A Chicago judge who objected to a law clerk carrying his cellphone into her courtroom will have to undergo training after threatening him with jail time and banning him from the entire courthouse.

Judge Peggy Chiampas of Cook County, Illinois, will have to take training on the enforcement of administrative orders governing electronic devices, according to an Aug. 27 news release.

The Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune have coverage.

Members of the public are generally barred from bringing cellphones into the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse where Chiampas works, but attorneys and their “authorized employees” are allowed to keep them, according to prior coverage by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Chiampas’ “secret” order banning law clerk Robert Almodovar from the courthouse was never entered on a docket and was not provided to Almodovar, according to a statement by his employer, lawyer Jennifer Bonjean. The Chicago Tribune reported on the statement in a prior article.

“Judges cannot ban citizens from public buildings, even if they think (wrongly) that the citizen has violated some administrative order,” Bonjean claimed.

Bonjean is suing Chiampas and others for alleged misconduct in a case involving two men accused of killing a police officer.

The cellphone incident happened in October 2023, when Almodovar was observing proceedings in Chiampas’ courtroom. Almodovar is an exoneree who spent 23 years in prison for a double murder that he did not commit.

A sheriff’s deputy who was told that Almodovar had a cellphone asked him to go out in the hallway. The deputy said Almodovar should lock his phone in a public locker downstairs.

The Chicago Tribune described what happened next as alleged in a motion seeking to overturn the courthouse ban. The Chicago Sun-Times interviewed Almodovar and quoted from a court transcript.

Almodovar said he thought that he was allowed to keep the cellphone as a law firm employee but agreed to comply. At that point, according to the motion, Chiampas “began screaming loudly from the bench, ‘Bring him in, bring him in, bring him in.’”

Chiampas ordered Almodovar to turn over his cellphone and said he had two options.

The first option: Chiampas could hold Almodovar in direct contempt and sentence him to six months in jail for violating an established order. The second option: Almodovar could “voluntarily … open up your phone so that they could check to ensure no photos were taken … and nothing was spread on social media regarding anything in this building or in this courtroom.”

A deputy searched the phone and said she found no pictures, no videos and no social media stories.

Chiampas nonetheless told Almodovar that he was banned from the courthouse unless he has a criminal case, unless he is subpoenaed to appear, or unless he gets prior approval.

“If you come to this building again,” Chiampas said, “I, sir, will give you the max six months.”

Chiampas vacated the courthouse ban earlier this month.