Trending: Should a Judge Who Suffers From a Mental Illness Be Allowed to Return to the Bench?

By Dennis Robaugh

CHICAGO – A judge brought up on battery charges and found not guilty by reason of insanity last year wants her robe and gavel back.

Cook County Judge Cynthia Brim — diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type — appeared before the Illinois Courts Commission Friday and said she believes she can return to the bench as long as she stays on her meds.

The commission will rule on whether she can have her job back. She's been barred from the bench since March 2012, when she suffered a courtroom meltdown during which she ranted for 45 minutes about how Evergreen Park and South Holland police officers only ticket blacks and Hispanics. The next day, she threw her keys and shoved a Cook County sheriff's deputy.

Brim was suspended by the chief judge and charged with battery. She still receives her $182,000 salary. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity in February 2013.

On Friday, Brim told the courts commission she's been hospitalized for mental illness nine times since 1994. She would repeatedly stop taking her prescribed anti-psychotic medications.

"I can serve as a judge with full capabilities as long as I continue to take the medication as prescribed," Brim said according to the Chicago Tribune.

For more on this story visit LaGrange Patch.

Do you think past mental illness should potentially disqualify someone from serving as a judge?