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MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For further information contact

John G. Dalton at 847-695-1708

JOHN G. DALTON ANOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE

ELGIN, IL (SEPTEMBER 30, 2011) Elgin Community College Trustee and Attorney John G. Dalton announced today that he will be a Democratic Candidate for Kane County Circuit Court Judge in the 2nd Judicial Subcircuit, which includes Elgin and Dundee Townships. The position is newly created.

In announcing his candidacy, Dalton stated, ”I’m running for Judge because I want to serve a community that has given me a great deal, and serving as a Judge is a perfect opportunity to do that.”

Mr. Dalton, the son of the late Danny Dalton and Elgin resident Sandy Dalton, cofounders of Danny’s Pizza, an Elgin institution since the mid eighties, was born in 1961 in Evanston, Illinois. A long time resident of Elgin, he lives with his family in a historic home on Douglas Avenue.

He is a 1984 garaduate, magna cum laude, from Augustana College. He studied law at the University of Illinois College of Law, graduating magna cum laude in 1987. He was an Associate Editor of the Law Review, a Harno Scholar, a Rickert Scholar, a member of the prestigious Order of the Coif, and recipient of the American Jurisprudence Prizes for both Civil Procedure and Trial Advocacy, among others.

Mr. Dalton is an active member of the Kane County Bar Association, serving on the Bench and Bar Committee, which works to improve civility and professionalism among lawyers. He is admitted to practice by the State of Illinois Supreme Court, the federal court for the Northern District of Illinois, where he is a member of the trial bar, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Dalton started his litgation career at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Chicago. He has also practiced litigation at Rothschild, Barry & Myers, served as Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel of a global bank and currently owns his own litigation and general practice firm in Elgin, where he represents a variety of individuals and businesses in a wide array of matters.

Mr. Dalton has ten years of experience as an Arbitration Chairman in the Cook County Court Annexed Mandatory Arbitration Program. As Chairman, he managed the courtroom, ruled on all objections, ruled on the evidence, and decided hundreds of cases.

Mr. Dalton is deeply engaged in the community. In addition to serving as an nonpartisan, elected ECC Trustee representing the citizens of 32 municipalities in five counties, and liaison to the ECC Foundation, he serves as a Deacon, Church Council Member and Bible Study Facilitator at First Congregational Church, in Elgin, which is celbrating its 175th anniversary this year. He is this year’s recipient of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Community Leadership Award, and was just named a Distinguished Alumnus by Lake Park H.S. in Roselle. He was cofounder and Chairman of Speak Out Against Prejudice (“SOAP”), which received the 2009 Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award. He served as Chairman of Famous Door Theater, which won the Chicago Business Volunteers for the Arts Award under his leadership. He has also served as a Commissioner of the Design Review Subcommittee for the City of Elgin, and has been a member of countless local organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Neighborhood Association, NorthEast Neighbors Association and Elgin Hispanic Network.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                      
 
 
 
November 4, 2009                                                               Elizabeth Sexton – Grainger Terry, Inc.
Media Release                                            .                        (312) 541-1600
                                                                                               elizabeths@graingerterry.com
 
 
 
Judicial Candidate Pledges to Refuse Contributions from Lawyers
 
ELGIN, IL -- John Dalton, Democratic candidate for Kane County Resident Judge, announced today that he will not accept campaign contributions from attorneys or organizations representing attorneys. Dalton challenges his primary opponent Michael C. Funkey and Republican candidates, David R. Akemann, Robert L. Janes, Thomas Patrick Rice, D.J. Tegeler and Leonard J. Wojtecki, to join him in refusing contributions from lawyers. Dalton, who plans to fund his campaign without accepting donations from lawyers, is one of the first Illinois judicial candidates to take this stance.
 
Dalton says “Taking contributions from lawyers creates a conflict of interest. Those same lawyers may appear before me in court, and that’s not ethical. The citizens of Kane County have the right to a fair trial and an impartial judge. Accepting contributions from attorneys would bring my independence and integrity into question.”
 
According to a report published last year by The Brennan Center for Justice, “…over two-thirds of citizens and nearly half of state judges believe that campaign contributions influence judge’s decisions…” The report, Fair Courts: Setting Recusal Standards, cited studies of judicial rulings in Ohio and Louisiana which showed a strong correlation between campaign contributions and judicial decisions.
 
John Dalton has rendered decisions in hundreds of arbitration cases and has appeared in both state and federal court. Dalton resides in Kane County and is a member of Elgin’s First Congregational United Church of Christ.
 
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