Megan K. Mulay
Name: Megan Kathleen Mulay
Party: Democratic
Age (as of Election Day): 47
Current residence: Chicago
Current position: Cook County assistant state’s attorney, 1999-present
Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: $24,511.50
Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: $23,861.03
Law school: The John Marshall Law School, 1999
Campaign website: meganmulayforjudge.com
Family: Husband, two kids
Hobbies/interests: Spending time with family; watching sons wrestle for college and high school teams; tennis; spin class
Have you ever run for office before?
This is my first time ever running for office. I have put my name in before with Judge [Timothy] Evans on the associate judge list. I don’t really go and do all the legwork that was maybe necessary to do, going around to all these events. But running for judge has been a really interesting experience.
I am very proud of the fact that Judge [Diane Joan] Larsen is supporting me. I had the opportunity to meet Judge Larsen about 10 years ago. I am the publicity chair for Women Everywhere. It’s a great organization, so I always like to volunteer some of my time back.
I’m involved in other bar associations and other things. Most of that other stuff is to sell a table. But Women Everywhere, you can really give back to the community, and I also do mentoring for the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, mentoring Cook County assistant state’s attorneys and for the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.
Why should voters support your candidacy?
For one, I get a little frustrated because I think voters get a little ballot apathy. There’s going to be 13 vacancies countywide, not even including the subcircuits.
Here’s the thing: You are more likely to be affected by something a circuit court judge does [than other elected officials].
I take my job and my responsibility as a prosecutor very seriously. I am blessed and proud of the fact that I am “Megan Mulay, on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois.” Dedicating my entire law career to the people means something, because that means you represent and you have to make sure everybody’s rights and interests are represented in that courtroom.
Whether it’s victims, defendants, first responders — they have an interest in that case. You have to do that as a prosecutor.
I’ve been the advocate. I’m ready to be the arbiter. And that’s what a judge needs to do, ensure everybody’s rights and interests are protected.
I’m very proud of the fact I have a lot of defense attorneys supporting me, as well as the Fraternal Order of Police. I think that shows I have a reputation for being tough and strong, but I’m also fair and compassionate.
Unfortunately, in the business we’re in, I’ve seen some truly evil and violent criminals that deserve the strong arm of the law, but the majority of people I see, they’ve made mistakes. Or they might need a break. Sometimes we have to figure out something else we can do instead of making that person a convicted felon. So, I might say, “Hey, give me a mitigation package.”
I think the people want a judge that has had that experience, and that’s experience you only get from being in my unique role, being a prosecutor for 20 years. You learn to discern the difference and the value in a case. I think the voters — if they can see and hear and understand my background, instead of just voting for a name, or not even voting at all — I think that if they do, they would want to vote for me.
Why do you want to be a judge?
To do more for people. I have more in me. I love my job and being a voice for victims. I love being here and being able to train younger attorneys — I take that very seriously, I’m proud of the work I have done. I’m very proud. But I want to do more and move on. I want to challenge myself.
I’m comfortable now in doing that, and it’s time for me to move on. I’m not one of these attorneys who threw my hat in the ring having eight years’ experience. I wanted to wait.
What was the most interesting case you handled as a lawyer?
Oh boy, I have to say one of the most interesting cases I did handle was a case where a mother and father killed their 2-month-old.
Nobody was in the courtroom, there was nobody for that victim in the courtroom. The mother and father lied from the beginning. And it was a case where you have no witnesses.
We knew it was them that did it. They finally admitted it, granted trying to mitigate what they did. But when you look at what they did, I had to go through thousands and thousands of medical records, because she lived, brain-dead, but for 15 days. Every statement each parent made, to every social worker, nurse, law enforcement officer, and just putting that timeline and that arc of lies and deceit to prove that they were the ones that did this with the intent to silence this child they did not want. So that was one of the most interesting cases because it was challenging.
The other case I want to talk to you about, I was second chair in a sex case, a young girl, probably about 12 years old, had been victimized by her grandma’s boyfriend. The charges were proved, we believe he did it, to this day I still believe he did it.
Unfortunately, I believe maybe she had been victimized by other people in her family. In talking to her, I had to confront her with other things that came up, and I think she’d just been so damaged that she couldn’t keep the facts of it straight; I then did not know what was the truth and what wasn’t the truth.
And at that point, I didn’t know what would come out of her mouth if I put her on the stand. She had told me so many different things. It’s just that I need competent evidence to go forward, and unfortunately I had to drop those charges; and it killed me, and it hurt me. I cried with her, and said I was sorry, and it was emotional. But that’s my obligation and my job.
What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?
All of my second chairs have made first chair.
What qualities do you plan to bring to the bench?
First of all, civility. A judge sets the tone in a courtroom. You have to treat everybody equally. You have to treat everybody the same. And you have to make sure everybody feels heard. And you have to do that for everyone. I say to my partners here, “Treat the person who comes in and picks up our garbage the exact same way you treat a judge.” That’s so huge in our profession, because it comes down to your reputation.
Also knowledge, and the ability to learn. I’m not one of these people that says, “Hey, I know everything.” I tell my partners, I don’t know everything, but if you ask me, I will find out. And as a judge, you also have to keep learning and not act as if you know everything, but you also have to make those timely decisions, to move cases forward.
Also, diversity, a lot of people want to see someone that looks like them.