Note: in the podcast, Jackie Sample discussed Judge Skarin’s role in her divorce.
Earlier this month, the Illinois 18th Judicial Circuit court posted a notice which didn’t raise many eyebrows.
The Circuit had a vacancy after DuPage County, Illinois Judge Kenton Skarin resigned.
Judges have been known to resign so this resignation may have gone unnoticed except that he was the first judge to preside over the controversial divorce between Dr. Madison Sample and Jackie Johnson Sample.
That divorce is still unresolved, and Judge Skarin is the second judge who presided over the divorce to leave the bench.
Back in November 2024, Judge James Orel abruptly retired; he was presiding over Jackie’s case when he announced his retirement.
At the heart of the Sample’s divorce is that Dr. Sample moved millions from joint accounts into his own accounts leaving Jackie struggling to stay up with bills, despite living in a multi-million-dollar home.
I have been in court several times and witnessed Jackie bringing the financial malfeasance to the court’s attention; every time, the judge presiding ignored her.
I started covering the case in 2024, months after Judge Skarin got off, so I didn’t document his misdeeds.
In the interview, Jackie told me that Judge Skarin started the ball rolling on this pattern. After issuing an order which was supposed to restore her financial situation, he refused to enforce the order.
She said an early attorney filed a pointed emergency motion laying out the abuse. In response, Jackie remembered Judge Skarin getting hostile with her while refusing to enforce his order.
Jackie said she believes Judge Skarin resigned because of her case; she has been very vocal about the abuse she suffered. She said she thought the heat from her advocacy drove him to resignation.
