BY KEVIN BERSETT Belleville News-Democrat

Madison County Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder was dropped Tuesday from hearing all asbestos cases less than a week after her campaign committee received $30,000 in contributions from three metro-east asbestos law firms.

On Dec. 1, Crowder, the county's sole asbestos judge, signed a preliminary order that gave the three firms the majority of the trial slots for the 2013 asbestos docket. Four days later, two lawyers each from Gori, Julian and Associates and the Goldenberg, Heller, Antognoli and Rowland law firms contributed $5,000 to Friends of Barbara Crowder. On Dec. 6, 10 lawyers from the Simmons Law Firm each made $1,000 contributions, according to the Illinois State Elections Board.

Crowder and Lawrence Taliana, her husband and campaign committee chairman, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Representatives of the law firms, all of which represent plaintiffs in asbestos-exposure cases, could not be reached for comment.

Chief Judge Ann Callis, in an order signed Tuesday, assigned all asbestos cases to Associate Judge Clarence Harrison.

"A situation was brought to my attention, and following consultation with the circuit judges we unanimously decided to change some civil assignments to maintain the public trust in a fair and unbiased judiciary," Callis said.

Callis would not comment further on the case or whether a complaint has been filed with the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board. The board investigates cases of judicial misconduct, which become public only when the board files a complaint with the Courts Commission.

Ed Murnane, president of the Illinois Civil Justice Leage, a business-backed interest group, said: "Without knowing all the details, it is exactly the kind of conduct that causes citizens to lose faith in the judicial system and their judges."

Murnane said plaintiff lawyers use the trial slots as a national marketing tool.

"You can sell the fact to a prospective client that you already have time in a courtroom," he said.

Madison County has repeatedly made the list of a pro-business group's annual compilation of the nation's "Judicial Hellholes," mostly for accepting a high number of asbestos cases, many of which, critics claim, are filed by plaintiffs with no connection to Illinois.

Crowder has been reassigned to hear all chancery, miscellaneous remedies and eminent domain cases. She had been the asbestos judge since July 2010 when she replaced former Circuit Judge Daniel Stack in that role.

Crowder, a Democrat, has been a circuit judge since 2006 and is up for retention in November.

The Illinois Judicial Conduct Code does not explicitly prohibit judges' campaign committees from accepting contributions from legal firms. The code does state, however, that judges should conduct themselves "in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary."

Murnane said common sense should have told Crowder that she should not take contributions from asbestos plaintiff attorneys.

"The court of common sense, the court of fairness would suggest this was a terrible blunder on the part of Judge Crowder," Murnane said.