The judge caught on video marching a young girl into the holding cell behind her courtroom last month has been assigned to administrative duties until further notice, according to Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office.
Judge Jackie Portman-Brown had already been removed from her post overseeing felony cases at the Leighton Criminal Court Building effective last week — the day the security video surfaced.
Wednesday’s decision by the circuit court’s executive committee makes that reassignment indefinite. The committee also reported Portman-Brown’s case to the Judicial Inquiry Board, which can take further disciplinary measures as it sees fit.
In addition, Portman-Brown will receive “mentoring,” according to the Wednesday news release from Evans’ office.
The news release said the child was a relative of Portman-Brown’s, and noted that the committee was “aware” of the courthouse security video that sparked outrage last week.
Video released to the Tribune via a public records request last week shows Portman-Brown and another woman with a physical hold on the young girl, marching her into the lockup, apparently by force, around midday Feb. 19.
The footage blacked out the child’s face. But sources who saw the child told the Tribune she is a girl 6 to 8 years old and was visibly distressed. The judge may have brought her into court that day in an attempt at “scared straight”-type discipline, sources said.
The lockup areas behind felony courtrooms are designated for defendants in custody to wait for their cases to be called. The security footage shows it was empty during the incident — except for the child.
Portman-Brown can be seen sitting the girl down on a bench, the girl’s toes barely reaching the ground, and walking away. A female sheriff’s deputy appeared to lock the door to the holding cell, and turned away. The girl was inside for about 10 minutes.
Two sheriff’s deputies who can be seen on the video have been de-deputized pending an investigation by their office.
A judge assigned to administrative duty largely conducts research and handles paperwork; colloquially, courthouse insiders call the assignment “judge jail.” Portman-Brown will be working out of the Daley Center.
Portman-Brown was elected to the bench in 2008 after spending time as a county prosecutor and then as general counsel for the Independent Police Review Authority, the Chicago agency that investigated allegations of police misconduct at that time.
By turns admired and criticized for her brash personality on the bench, Portman-Brown was assigned to bond court and two specialty court calls before getting her own felony courtroom about a year ago.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com