Illinois judge recuses after allowing unvaccinated mom to see son; dad plans to block visit

An Illinois judge recused himself Tuesday from a child support case in which he initially barred an unvaccinated woman from seeing her son, then reversed the order Monday after it started to get media attention.

“Although I believe I can be fair and impartial, the Canons of Judicial Ethics speak to the perception of fairness and impartiality as well as fairness and impartiality itself,” Cook County Judge James Shapiro said in a statement, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Public perception may be that I can’t be fair and impartial. Therefore, I am going to recuse myself from further proceedings in this case,” Shapiro continued.

Rebecca Firlit told Shapiro in an early August hearing that she had not gotten vaccinated against the coronavirus because she was advised against it by a doctor due to adverse reactions vaccines had caused her in the past, FOX 32 in Chicago reported.

The judge then revoked Firlit’s right to see her 11-year-old son until she got the vaccine – only to reverse his decision after it was reported in the press and widely criticized.

“I think there’s been a lot of media outcry,” Firlit’s attorney, Annette Fernholz, said. “The divorce bar here in Illinois has been responding when they saw it on the news.”

Firlit said she and her ex-husband have been divorced for several years. – READ MORE