What would appear to many Illinoisans as glaring conflicts of interest over the years have not appeared to raise red flags for the new chief justice.

Some Illinois lawmakers supplement their income doing property tax appeals work at private law firms. A property tax relief task force that includes some of those lawmakers killed a proposal to end that conflict of interest.

Ald. Ed Burke has long been criticized for operating a lucrative law business in the politically clouted world of Cook County property tax appeals, a world in which the speaker of the Illinois House of Representative continues to make money.