Hon. John G. Dalton See Rating Details
Subcircuit Judge
Circuit Court
Kane County
Sixteenth Judicial Circuit
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Attorney Average Rating:   2.1 - 15 rating(s)
Non-Attorney Average Rating:   2.0 - 26 rating(s)
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General Rating Criteria

* Temperament (1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Scholarship (1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Industriousness (1=Not at all industrious,10=Highly industrious)
* Ability to Handle Complex Litigation (1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Punctuality (1=Chronically Late,10=Always on Time)
* General Ability to Handle Pre-Trial Matters (1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
* General Ability as a Trial Judge (1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
Flexibility In Scheduling (1=Completely Inflexible,10=Very Flexible)


Criminal Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Criminal Litigation (1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
General Inclination Regarding Bail (1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
Involvement in Plea Discussions (1=Not at all Involved, 10=Very Involved)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Pretrial Stage (1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Trial Stage (1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Sentencing Stage (1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)


Civil Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Civil Litigation (1=Not at all Evenhanded,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
Involvement in Settlement Discussions (1=Not at all Involved,10=Very Involved)
General Inclination (1=Pro-defendant, 10=Pro-plaintiff)
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What others have said about Hon. John G. Dalton


Comments


Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: IL4417
Rating:1.0
Comments:
This judge is HORRIFIC.He needs to be removed from the bench. Totally biased.
He HAS no concept of upholding the law. Even an agreement he signed-did not enforce.Get reid of him

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: IL4408
Rating:1.0
Comments:
DALTON ALWAYS SIDES WITH THE TENANT AGAINST THE LANDLORD. ALLOWS TENANT TO GET AWAY WITH NOT PAYING RENT,LAWYERS COST.HORRIBLE JUDGE. THE LANLORD IS A LAW ABIDING PERSON BUT DALTON DOES NOT CARE. TOTAALY BIASED JUDGE-NEEDS TO BE REMOVED AND I TELL ANY ONE IN KANE COUNTY WHAT HE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN TO MY FAMILY,BY ALLOWING TENANT TO DESTROY PROPERTY AND LIVE RENT FREE.PUT HIM IN PRISON FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE.

Other

Comment #: IL4407
Rating:1.0
Comments:
HORRIFIC JUDGE.HE ALLOWED A TENENAT TO STAY IN MY MOTHERS RENTAL FOR 4 MONTHS-PENDING MEDITATION HE STATED. MY FAMILY DEPENDS ON THAT INCOME FOR HER HOSPICE CARE.DALTON DID NOT CARE AND ALLOWED HIS JUDICIAL SYSTEM TO STEAL AND RAPE MY FAMILY FOR 4 MONTHS. I HOPE DALTON BURNS IN HELL FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE TO MY FAMILY

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL3860
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Dismissed eviction case on tenant owing $12K+ without even hearing plaintiffs complaint. Deadbeat tenant gets free rein and justice gets served a plate of trash. Kudos to you, Judge Dalton. Your misguided mindset and selfish demeanor is a disgrace to the US Judicial System. Vote him out, citizens of Elgin!

Other

Comment #: IL3739
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Judge Dalton is so hit or miss. If he's having a good day then you will probably have an ok court appearance. If he's having a bad day then it's going to negatively affect your court case. Never have seen a judge bully people in court like Dalton regularly does. Even in criminal court.

Litigant

Comment #: IL3630
Rating:9.0
Comments:
Judge Dalton is fair in family court, he's even willing to entertain the delusions of certain severely mentally ill litigants. However once enough evidence is returned (say from a GAL investigation), he rules against parents making false allegations and accusations. Just wish he was more willing to enforce consequences for contempt in his courtroom.
Also he hasn't lost his job or been demoted. He requested to be transferred out of family court years ago and the new chief judge finally granted his request. After all, he didn't start out being a judge in family court.
If you don't lie to him, Judge Dalton will be fair to you.

Other

Comment #: IL3628
Rating:1.0
Comments:
I have never been so happy to see someone lose their job in my life!!!!!

He has been the most unfair person I’ve ever met. Gave me a $2500 warrant even though I was in court. Never knew the laws. In car stayed me multiple times only because their system hadn’t read the most recent payment by the court date. Completely ignored all my proof of income and just gave me an amount.

All of this amongst a myriad of other things.

But he incarcerated people at alarming rates, not realizing he hurts the kids more than help. And he places unattainable and unfair bonds.

And after reading this thread, I am not the only one apparently!

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL3611
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Absolutely terrible. Hopefully, he will be voted out.

Other

Comment #: IL3608
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Dalton quickly sought prejudice against me and allowed his mood on that day to affect my child custody case.

Other

Comment #: IL3597
Rating:1.0
Comments:
It depends on the day what he is going to support. After 20K paid to help my family member that was abused he was going to give custody to the abuser. In the end The person went back to the abuser and is living a life of fear and tears. He favors men no women will win with him that seat!

Other

Comment #: IL3589
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Judge Dalton is a disgrace to the system of public service.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL3585
Rating:1.0
Comments:
I hope he gets his sentence he is an unfit judge. He is not fair to women. You can see in court how he treats mothers who tried to save the children from drunk abuser and drugs addiction he goes for the fathers and he was floating with the lawyer and the father of my son.

Other

Comment #: IL3574
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
The comments left previously are complete farce. No woman is safe in his courtroom, he is unfair, breaks HIPAA laws, and is completely biased. He favors men, and abusers especially... Labels women crazy and threatens jail if a woman attempts to defend herself.

Litigant

Comment #: IL3569
Rating:10.0
Comments:
Very fair even when the parties before him obviously are more interested in being aggressive to eachother rather than cooperating for the interests of their kids.
He makes sure litigants focus on their kids and will call out lies when he suspects you're lying to him.
Family court is an inherently unfair process, you're lucky if you get someone like Judge Dalton who isn't swayed by allegations that aren't true.

Litigant

Comment #: IL3550
Rating:10.0
Comments:
He tends to be quite fair and is more than willing to consider complex nuances of the case before him. Like many, maybe most, family court judges, he relies heavily on the recommendations from a GAL on your case.
He doesn't always impose order in his courtroom. He could be stricter in that sense. He's a good judge of character too. He has a keen ability to recognize bullshit.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL3548
Rating:1.1
Comments:
He has earned every bit of his terrible reputation in the legal community.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: IL3543
Rating:1.0
Comments:
James Biel two yrs old died bc judge Dalton put the child in a sexual child ensures home and the child sister is still in the monsters home

Other

Comment #: IL3541
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Dalton is now hereby accused of collusion in first degree murder of baby James, along with cps agent and prosecutor. Each to be removed from public office immediately for bad behavior in public office

Other

Comment #: IL3540
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Dalton is now hereby accused of collusion in first degree murder along with cps agent and prosecutor. Each to be removed from public office immediately

Other

Comment #: IL3538
Rating:10.0
Comments:
Handled my case with care. Kept my son out of a really bad situation and shut down the other party when trying to play the system.

Other

Comment #: IL3536
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
The previous comment and eating is complete nonsense. Any good attorney knows, it's an impossible courtroom for litigants AND attorneys because of lack of fairness... Extreme bias, lack of constitutionality.... As a judge, he should be labeled "dishonorable"

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: IL3534
Rating:10.0
Comments:
Judge John G Dolton is the fairest judge I have ever witnessed. I've sat in his court room many times and sat in awe at how compassionate and his ability to be impartial.

Other

Comment #: IL3533
Rating:1.0
Comments:
This Judge is a total disgrace to humanity! This Judge needs permanently terminated for destroying innocent children's lives by giving custody of children to pedophiles instead of aggressively moving the children back home where they belong! I live in Arkansas & people like this makes me sick! Maybe it needs to be his turn to be Judged for once! How could anybody live with themselves knowing that they caused an innocent child to die! The little girl needs her mother;not be with a bunch of crazy people! What is wrong with you people?

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL3532
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Ruled in favor of an admitted rapist and because of this is directly responsible for the sexual abuse and murder of a two year old child.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL3531
Rating:1.0
Comments:
As an attorney practicing in New York I was appalled to hear of the Witkowski matter and the way in which Judge Dalton handled the direct evidence. Undisputed: the father of the children admits to raping and sodomizing the mother. Admits to thousands of photos and videos of infants and children of a sexual nature, too wit: rape by grown men. Judge Dalton gives Kara Witkowski custody of the children. Then the GAL states, without any evidence, at a hearing where Ms. Wikowski's attorney advised she did not need to attend, that she is suffering from PTSD. Ignoring all the evidence of Truth, Judge Dalton gives custody to Mr. Biel. The children are removed from their maternal grandmother's home where they are living, and while Ms. Witkowski is at work. Within a short period of time 2 year old James is dead, after having been admitted to the hospital for a dropped rectum (as a result of anal rape). Despite all this, three year old Sasha remains with her pedophile father and Judge Dalton refuses to release this precious child to her mother. Where is this in the Best Interest of the Child. I personally hold Judge Dalton responsible for this travesty of justice, and lack thereof.

Other

Comment #: IL3530
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Judge John G Dalton is responsible for the death of a child. He needs to resign and go to prison as well. Trump administration should step in!

Other

Comment #: IL3528
Rating:1.0
Comments:
When a child no matter what age is dead you don’t need to say much more. He should resign and never be a judge again. The voters should recall him. Nothing Honorable about him. He should NEVER be in a position to be making decisions on people’s lives. The worst of the worst.

Other

Comment #: IL3525
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Judge Dalton is a very unfair judge and is only about the $$$ not the welfare of a defendants.

Other

Comment #: IL3512
Rating:1.0
Comments:
JUDGE DALTON placed baby boy JAMES RYKER BIEL 10/06/17 to 10/31/19, of Palatine, Illinois, Ms. Kara Witkowski's precious son, with a known abuser to the boy's detriment, suffering, and demise. Hold JUDGE DALTON accountable. Impunity is not applicable here. He needs to lose his reputation, his job, and his freedom, as he let this angel suffer and die under HIS WATCH!!!

Other

Comment #: IL3502
Rating:1.0
Comments:
He is completely unprofessional and is his rulings are a disservice to the families of these communities.

Other

Comment #: IL3492
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Horrible judge! He wouldn’t listen or read the respondent’s side of the stories and believes every words from petitioners side of the stories.

1st of all - we are not from Kane County but the pretitoners does.

2 guys was pressing charges and requested a resistant order of protection against my husband. My husband has NEVER bother these guys. But these guys keep throwing in lot of lies and making up some bullshits. And they are the one that kept harassing us and our parent in law. We had some witnesses with us but they told witnesses to leave the room. Did not want to listen their stories what they’ve witnessed.

I’ll be opening a case soon at another court house by me!

Litigant

Comment #: IL3489
Rating:1.0
Comments:
My name is Kara Elizabeth Witkowski

This man is one of the most sadistic and unethical Judges that I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

On April 11th my ex admitted to raping me in his court room as well as having multiple personality disorder.

He admitted to sending the documentation where he stated he was a greater risk to my children than me and that his alternate personality had no sense of ethics.

In addition to this my ex was caught with having a flashdrive that contained over 700 apparent prebuscent children in their underwear. 3 of these were nude images.

He also had multiple images of animated children engaging in deplorable sexual acts with adults.

Despite all of this Dalton allowed an emergency motion to go on behind my back where my ex was given temporary custody.

I was never served with this motion or notified of the court date.

Dalton has never given me an evidentiary or plenary hearing regarding this emergency motion.

In addition, he is extorting me for 900$ just to see my children.

If Dalton has hurt you in the same way or similar way that he has hurt me, please reach out.

We cannot keep staying

Other

Comment #: IL3467
Rating:1.0
Comments:
This man does not belong in a courtroom, especially Family Court where children are involved. When it comes to fathers struggling he is quick to call the sheriff and jail people instead of doing what most family court judges do, they help the situation so everyone involved works together instead of creating hate which this judge is full of. It's sad Kane County continues to let this half man ruin the families that stand before him.

Litigant

Comment #: IL3456
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Pro man, against all women. Abusive in the courtroom. Never follows own orders and threatens litigants with "Draconian" laws and jail time.

Other

Comment #: IL2901
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Should have a 0. this guy use to be the judge for evictions. he told us the evidence had nothing to do with the case. Let our tenants stay another 2 months without paying. We never got our day in court. I am happy to see Kane County residents can vote him out today! go vote!!

Other

Comment #: IL2828
Rating:1.0
Comments:
He blatantly discriminates against women. It’s shocking that he is allowed to proceed with such widespread discrimation.
He is unprofessional, irrational and unqualified to be a judge.

Litigant

Comment #: IL2810
Rating:9.0
Comments:
While I'm facing an OOP from an abusive ex who is trying to punish me for insisting that I be able to pick our daughter up from school I'm optimistic. My ex lies, doesn't like to follow court orders etc. First time in court, judge caught ex in a lie and scolded him, He also noticed that when he told my ex to do something that he was refusing and he verbally scolded him. My ex was told that this time if my visit didn't happen he would take that into consideration.

While my ex was pushing for a trial and to put our child on the stand the judge was irritated that my ex was so adamant about forcing our daughter to witness against me.

Litigant

Comment #: IL2802
Rating:1.0
Comments:
You can’t rate 0. I too echo everyone else’s comments 100%- seen and heard all of it. Gee, any coincidence here. Judge Dalton must go. He is a disgrace, to say the least. Being recently informed that he is the only family judge as well as the only judge in Kane County who hears orders of protection- what on earth? Are you kidding me? How did this man get elected in the first place? Why won’t anyone remove this man? He does whatever the hell he wants and gets a thrill out of harassing victims of domestic abuse. Further, he promotes continued abuse through his biased, shitty, fly by the seat of his pants rulings. People are livid especially when their children’s lives are at stake and being abused as a result. He loves to go on and on about his credentials and being on the board of the Community Crisis Center, acting as if he knows everything about abuse and victims of abuse. It’s all a show for votes. He doesn’t do anything with it nor does he care nor does he know the first thing about victims of abuse nor about raising children since he doesn’t have any.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: IL2692
Rating:1.2
Comments:
UNPROFESSIONAL

Other

Comment #: IL2554
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
You can't put ZEROs for him... This is an awful definition as a Judge. Does he even have children, how can you judge in family law with NO personal EXPERIENCE.H runs his court like a show and he is the conductor... sorry judges have common sense...not this guy... he would rather spin around in his chair and make unethical calls... REMOVE IGNORANCE PLEASE!!!

Other

Comment #: IL2509
Rating:1.0
Comments:
This man doesn't understand anything about being fair. Our lawyer has even heard him say "f*** the constitution. That s***'s outdated." He doesn't care about the law. He doesn't care about evidence. He picks a side on each court date, and nothing the other person can say or do is right. What's worse, is that he changes sides every time people go to court! It was horrible waiting in fear, because today he may be on your opponents side, just because of the mood he was in. I've never in my life, seen a judge who is as unpredictable, unfair, and despised as much as Judge Dalton is.

Other

Comment #: IL2502
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Racist, letting white men be late years and African Americans and Mexicans put in jail for a week behind. He also sets thousands of dollars bails for only a few hundred dollars owed. He is known for debtors jail even when cause to be behind. He is teaching Elizabeth Flood who to hate as he does. He does not follow the law or the State Attorney and disrespects the State Attorney openly in court. He looks for sympathy from all in his courtroom who he has harmed by talking about his personal life woes and looking for sympathy when he is a heartless and intentionally cruel to others. It almost seems sociopathic how he feels so much for himself and so little for others. He is a disgrace to Kane County.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL2474
Rating:2.0
Comments:
Dalton gets joy out of harassing lawyers and litigants alike. He doesn't look at facts or evidence in determining his ruling and frequently will state "I enforce my orders" but everyone who has ever been in his court room knows that he only enforces monetary orders. Any other parenting order issues will not be addressed other than a mocking lecture. He lets his contempt known for the litigant he just chooses he doesn't like, whether its because he doesn't like their eye color, hair color, or skin color, he just chooses to not like someone and all the evidence in the world will never change his ruling or opinion on the legal subject matter. He's moody. He's rude. He's an absolutely disgusting judge. Probably the worst I've ever seen in 10 years of practicing in Kane County. He needs to be removed from the bench and sanctioned. He should never be allowed in a court room again. And in my opinion his actions equate abuse towards the individuals that stand before him looking for justice, fairness and help with a conflict. He just makes the conflict worse. And he knows it. And enjoys it.

Other

Comment #: IL2143
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Kane County residents should be embarassed for appointing this man. He is more concerned with discussing his personal life in the courtroom than he is actually giving the consideration needed to the case in front of him. Uses emotion and personal bisses to decide case outcomes rather than facts and evidence. Even questions why he made pervious orders in cases such as "i had ruled on this before and then ruled again later. Why did I do that?" Also clearly has favorite attorneys. If your attorney is not one of his preferred attorneys he will rule against you the entire case. Does not follow court procedures. If he is low on patience or sick of your case he will not hear your arguement or evidence and just rule. I witnessed an attorney ask for a 3 day trial. Judge Dalton said he would give 1 day. When that 1 day wasn't enough he admonished the attorney for not asking for multiple days. Then when he ruled on the case he said in his ruling that maybe if the trial had more time the full extent of evidence could have been presented and changed the outcome. He is on record stating he just wants to push cases through the system, and that is shown. If a party is indigent he will not only hold them to a lower standard of behavior in the court room and life but he will rule in protection of their behavior, thus hurting the children living in the impoverished conditions. He should be investigated for his inconsisitency, lack of respect, clear personal biases and absolute disregard for procedure.

Other

Comment #: IL2139
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Doesn't make it an easy court room visit. Maybe he should remember he is human like everyone who stands in front of him. Disrespectful to lawyers and make people feel be littled. My advice is look into his style. He is in divorce court... Not people's court. Bring on December 2018. Someone who doesn't have children should not run a court room that deals with children

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL2094
Rating:1.9
Comments:
Judge John Dalton ignores the extremely important evidence that is placed before him. He is very biased. He just gave custody of my daughter to a man who stood in his court room saying he couldn't afford to feed our daughter. There is a 604(b) psychological evaluation going on in the household that he placed my daughter in, due to another custody battle that is occurring in the house, with allegations of neglect and abuse. He ignored the allegations that her father didn't take my daughter to the doctor, even though she was sick for five weeks. We also told the judge that my daughter said that she can't stand the fighting in the house. The "man" has no right being a judge.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL1782
Rating:2.6
Comments:
He is a terrible person, he allowed my daughter to be placed with her abusive father while I work instead of allowing me to place her at a daycare center run by family at no cost to her father.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: IL865
Rating:4.1
Comments:
This judge has an unfortunate inability to consider legal arguments beyond those that he has thought of himself. He is far too glib with comments that can be taken as offensive and/or biased. Not recommended.