Like millions of their fellow Americans, Maura Slattery Boyle and her husband, William, owed the IRS back taxes.
But there’s a key distinction in the Boyle’s case: Slattery Boyle is a Cook County judge.
And rather than being open about how she and her husband got sideways with the IRS to the tune of $114,158, Slattery Boyle has been relatively close-mouthed about the whole thing, as reported by the Sun-Times’ Tim Novak.
An IRS filed a lien against the couple six months ago and the judge says the amount is now paid. However, the Cook County Clerk’s Office hasn’t recorded any documents that show the IRS has actually released the tax lien.
Why does this matter?
A judge’s job on the bench is to make sure rules are followed, people are held accountable, and that the courtroom is run in a proper manner, with everything open and above board for the public to see.
But that’s hardly the public standard Slattery Boyle is using when it comes to her tax troubles.
The judge wouldn’t provide particulars as to why she and her husband owed the arrearage, or whether it’s related to either her salary, or her husband’s appraisal business — or if the hefty unpaid tax bill has anything to do with the three businesses she owns, as disclosed on economic interest statements she has filed with the Illinois Secretary of State.
“All issues pertaining to this have been resolved,” Slattery Boyle said in an email to the Sun-Times, declining to answer other questions.
But the public is owed a better explanation than that, especially with the other legal woes reported by the Sun-Times.
As a judge, Slattery Boyle handles legal suits in the county court’s law division. She was appointed to the bench in 2000.
In addition to her tax troubles, the judge has been named in four lawsuits over a condo she and her brother inherited in the Ford City Condominium complex on the Southwest Side, and a commercial building she and her husband own in Bridgeport.
Three of those suits were filed over building code violations at the two properties. The fourth suit was filed by a bank alleging Slattery Boyle and her husband were behind on a mortgage.
Is something amiss with the judge’s finances? Typically, such matters might be considered no one else’s business. But judges, at every level, have more obligation to be transparent.
The public and the integrity of the bench deserve no less.
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