The River Forest village president’s call for residents to attend a court hearing on the Lake & Lathrop debacle and “send a message to the court” (Village of River Forest Newsletter, emailed to residents June 18) is deeply inappropriate and reflects a troubling misunderstanding of how our legal system works.
A courtroom is not a stadium, and judges are not swayed by cheering sections. Courts decide cases based on facts, evidence, and legal arguments, not by counting spectators in the gallery. Encouraging residents to travel downtown to influence a judicial proceeding turns a serious legal matter into a political spectacle.
The suggestion that a crowd’s presence should affect the outcome of a case is offensive to the principle of an independent judiciary and has no place in public leadership.
Deborah Borman
River Forest