Judge charged after dropping gun at Chicago courthouse.
Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:52 pm
If you can't even trust a judge to carry a gun.....................
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... tory.html#
A veteran Cook County judge was hit with a misdemeanor gun charge after sheriff’s deputies saw him drop a pistol last week in the lobby of the county’s main criminal courthouse, authorities said.
Judge Joseph Claps, who has presided over felony criminal cases at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, was reassigned last week to “nonjudicial duties” pending a meeting Wednesday of the circuit court’s executive committee, a spokesman for Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office said.
Claps was walking in the lobby of the courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue on July 3 when two deputies noticed a handgun fall out of a jacket draped over the judge’s arm, according to a sheriff’s incident report.
Sheriff’s officials charged Claps with the Class B misdemeanor offense of carrying a concealed weapon in a prohibited area. The judge was released on his own recognizance and is slated to make his first court appearance next week at the branch courthouse in suburban Maywood, Smith said.
Claps has a firearm owner’s identification card and a concealed carry license, Smith said, but weapons are prohibited in the courthouse for even concealed carry holders.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... tory.html#
A veteran Cook County judge was hit with a misdemeanor gun charge after sheriff’s deputies saw him drop a pistol last week in the lobby of the county’s main criminal courthouse, authorities said.
Judge Joseph Claps, who has presided over felony criminal cases at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, was reassigned last week to “nonjudicial duties” pending a meeting Wednesday of the circuit court’s executive committee, a spokesman for Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office said.
Claps was walking in the lobby of the courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue on July 3 when two deputies noticed a handgun fall out of a jacket draped over the judge’s arm, according to a sheriff’s incident report.
Sheriff’s officials charged Claps with the Class B misdemeanor offense of carrying a concealed weapon in a prohibited area. The judge was released on his own recognizance and is slated to make his first court appearance next week at the branch courthouse in suburban Maywood, Smith said.
Claps has a firearm owner’s identification card and a concealed carry license, Smith said, but weapons are prohibited in the courthouse for even concealed carry holders.