Another one bites the dust in Cook County
Judge Rosanna Fernandez: we hardly knew you.
Earlier this week, Judge Rosanna Fernandez became the third judge to recuse herself from a Cook County, Illinois, child custody case between Jane and Kenton Girard after being accused of significant malfeasance.
Previously, Judges William Boyd and Renee Goldfarb also recused themselves, after both were named in a federal civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit in which the two judges were accused of bribery.
Judge Rosanna Fernandez took over in the summer of 2024 and quickly made her presence known.
I previously spoke to Tina Swithin, of One Mom’s Battle, who watched the first hearing with Judge Fernandez. Tina described Judge Fernandez as “unhinged” in that hearing.
Tina told me that she routinely court watches, and her general protocol is to turn her microphone and video off, because having them can cause a distraction.
Judge Fernandez saw it differently. She quickly demanded her video on, and for Tina to identify herself.
Tina turned her video and wrote that she was an observer for the Girard case.
“As soon as she saw that, she was fuming,” Tina told me. “She basically accused us of harassing the court.”
Tina called Fernandez “unhinged.”
Tina said Judge Fernandez then said, “In the future, if you’re here to harass the court, I will order in person hearings only.”
Kent’s current wife, Marissa, was added as a party- probably to harass her- however her addition created a legal opportunity.
Jane and Kent have fraternal twin daughters who will be seventeen in February 2025. Since the summer of 2022, the two girls have refused to see her mom; in a lawsuit, they accused her of torturous behavior.
The parents have a longstanding custody order, which no one is following; instead, the court is angling to hold a new trial to create a new order.
Both parents live in Glencoe, Illinois- one of America’s wealthiest areas- so they can both afford to pay a lot in frivolous fees.
It’s likely the court is angling to hold a hearing and issue an order which Kent can’t or won’t follow and then issue fees for him to pay to a bunch of court whores- in particular Jane’s attorneys at Beermann Law Group.
Beermann was accused of running a bribery scheme involving numerous Cook County judges in the RICO lawsuit.
I reached out to Jane by email, but she didn’t respond. I reached out to Matt “the Munchkin” Elster, the Beermann attorney who has taken the lead on this case, at his office, but he did not return a voicemail for comment.
{“the Munchkin” is also involved in Jackie Sample’s case, which I’ve covered}
Kent and Marissa need only to run out the clock until the girls turn eighteen- when they are no longer at the mercy the courts.
This brings me back to the legal opportunity. In Illinois, every party to a suit can ask to remove one judge for any reason.
Marissa filed for a substitution of judge last fall. Judge Fernandez refused to hear it claiming Marissa was required to appear in person.
After that, Kent and Marissa filed for a substitution of judge for cause; this was denied, but after that a bizarre set of events occurred.
On January 27, 2025, Marissa filed a “MOTION FOR STAY AND REPAIR OF JURISDICTION.”
That’s a motion title I had not heard before. The motion accused much of the Cook County judiciary of wantonly and improperly moving the case from judge to judge outside the rules, and possibly the law.
The motion accuses the presiding judge Cook County’s family court division Regina Scannicchio of being involved in the malfeasance.
Judge Scannacchio- readers may recall- was none too kind to Eddie Engles in December 2024 when he was in front of her. His ex-girlfriend, Feliza Castro, was also represented by Beerman Law Group. {quite coincidentally I’m sure}
It seems like this Girard matter has become a hot potato for Cook County judges, so they passed it around, and not always following the rules, according to the motion.
Part of the motion is below.
The motion argued that all this illegal movement has jacked up the case so much that a stay- or pause- was necessary to fix it.
Meanwhile, the clock ticks until the girls’ eighteenth birthday.
Hours after this motion was filed, Judge Fernandez recused herself from the case.
The amount of corruption going on in these courts is alarming. If judges don’t have to follow the rules, who does?
If only I had millions of dollars..