The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. It is one of the busiest federal trial courts in the United States, with famous cases including those of Al Capone and the Chicago Eight.[1]
Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).
The acting United States attorney for the district, representing the United States in litigation in the court, is Morris Pasqual since March 12, 2023.[2]
Organization
The court's jurisdiction is split into an eastern division, including Cook, DuPage, McHenry, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, Lake, and Will counties, with its sessions held in Chicago and Wheaton; and a western division, including Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties, with its sessions held in Freeport and Rockford.
History
The United States District Court for the District of Illinois was established by a statute passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1819, 3 Stat. 502.[3][4] The act established a single office for a judge to preside over the court. Initially, the court was not within any existing judicial circuit, and appeals from the court were taken directly to the United States Supreme Court. In 1837, Congress created the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, placing it in Chicago, Illinois and giving it jurisdiction over the District of Illinois, 5 Stat. 176.[4]
The Northern District itself was created by a statute passed on February 13, 1855, 10 Stat. 606, which subdivided the District of Illinois into the Northern and the Southern Districts.[4] The boundaries of the District and the seats of the courts were set forth in the statute:
The counties of Hancock, McDonough, Peoria, Woodford, Livingston, and Iroquois, and all the counties in the said State north of them, shall compose one district, to be called the northern district of Illinois, and courts shall be held for the said district at the city of Chicago; and the residue of the counties of the said State shall compose another district, to be called the southern district of Illinois, and courts shall be held for the same at the city of Springfield.
The district has since been re-organized several times. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois was created on March 3, 1905, by 33 Stat. 992,[4] by splitting counties out of the Northern and Southern Districts. It was later eliminated in a reorganization on October 2, 1978, which replaced it with a Central District, 92 Stat. 883,[4] formed primarily from parts of the Southern District, and returning some counties to the Northern District.
The Northern District of Illinois, which contains the entire Chicago metropolitan area, accounts for 1,531 of the 1,828 public corruption convictions in the state between 1976 and 2012, almost 84%, also making it the federal district with the most public corruption convictions in the nation between 1976 and 2012.[5]
Current judges
As of December 5, 2024:
- ^ Reassigned from the District of Illinois.
- ^ Recess appointment; the United States Senate later rejected the appointment.
- ^ a b Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 8, 1934, confirmed by the Senate on February 20, 1934, and received commission on March 1, 1934.
- ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1939, confirmed by the Senate on February 9, 1939, and received commission on March 4, 1939.
- ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 17, 1959, confirmed by the Senate on April 29, 1959, and received commission on April 30, 1959.
- ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1963, confirmed by the Senate on March 28, 1963, and received commission on April 2, 1963.
Chief judges
Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.
A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.
When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.
Succession of seats
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Seat 2
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Seat established on March 3, 1905 by 33 Stat. 992
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Landis |
1905–1922
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Wilkerson |
1922–1940
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Seat abolished on December 31, 1940 (temporary judgeship expired)
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Seat 7
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Seat established on May 24, 1940 by 54 Stat. 219 (temporary)
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Seat became permanent upon the abolition of Seat 2 on December 31, 1940
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Campbell |
1940–1970
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McMillen |
1971–1984
|
Conlon |
1988–2004
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Kendall |
2006–present
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Seat 11
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Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80
|
Decker |
1963–1980
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Nordberg |
1982–1994
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Bucklo |
1994–2009
|
Chang |
2010–present
|
|
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Seat 13
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Seat established on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294
|
McGarr |
1970–1986
|
Zagel |
1987–2016
|
Seeger |
2019–present
|
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Seat 14
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Seat established on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294
|
Tone |
1972–1974
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Flaum |
1974–1983
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Rovner |
1984–1992
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Coar |
1994–2009
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Lee |
2012–2022
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Jenkins |
2023–present
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Seat 15
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Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629
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Moran |
1979–1995
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Gottschall |
1996–2012
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Ellis |
2013–present
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Seat 16
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Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629
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Aspen |
1979–2002
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Der-Yeghiayan |
2003–2018
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Kness |
2020–present
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Seat 18
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Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333
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Norgle Sr. |
1984–2022
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Hunt |
2023–present
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Seat 19
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Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333
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Holderman |
1985–2013
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Blakey |
2014–present
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Seat 20
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Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333
|
Williams |
1985–1999
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Lefkow |
2000–2012
|
Shah |
2014–present
|
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Seat 21
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Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333
|
Duff |
1985–1996
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Guzman |
1999–2014
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Alonso |
2014–present
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Seat 22
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Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 (temporary)
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Seat made permanent on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089
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Leinenweber |
1985–2002
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Filip |
2004–2008
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Coleman |
2010–present
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Seat 23
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Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089
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Reinhard |
1992–2007
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Kapala |
2007–2019
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Johnston |
2020–present
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Seat 24
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Seat established on December 5, 2022 pursuant to 104 Stat. 5089 (temporary)
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Cummings |
2023–present
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List of U.S. attorneys since 1857
- Augustus M. Herrington, 1857–1858[6]
- Henry S. Fitch, 1858–1861
- Edwin C. Larned, 1861
- Joseph O. Glover, 1869
- Mark Bangs, 1875–1879
- Joseph B. Seake, 1879–1884
- Richard S. Tuthill, 1884–1886
- William G. Ewing, 1886–1890
- Thomas E. Milchrist, 1891–1893
- Sherwood Dixon, 1893–1894
- John C. Black, 1895–1899
- Solomon H. Bethea, 1899–1905
- Charles B. Morrison, 1905–1906
- Edwin W. Sims, 1906–1911
- James Herbert Wilkerson, 1911–1914
- Charles F. Clyne, 1914–1922
- Edwin A. Olson, 1922–1927
- George E. Q. Johnson, 1927–1931
- Dwight H. Green, 1931–1935
- Michael L. Igoe, 1935–1938
- William Joseph Campbell, 1938–1940
- J. Albert Woll, 1940–1947
- Otto Kerner Jr., 1947–1954
- Irwin N. Cohen, 1954
- Robert Tieken, 1954–1961
- James P. O'Brien, 1961–1963
- Frank E. McDonald, 1963–1964
- Edward Hanrahan, 1964–1968
- Tom Foran, 1968–1970
- William J. Bauer, 1970–1971
- James R. Thompson, 1971–1975
- Samuel K. Skinner, 1975–1977
- Thomas P. Sullivan, 1977–1981
- Gregory C. Jones, 1981
- Dan K. Webb, 1981–1985
- Anton R. Valukas, 1985–1989
- Ira A. Raphaelson, 1989–1990
- Fred Foreman, 1990–1993
- Michael J. Shepard, 1993
- Jim Burns, 1993–1997
- Scott R. Lassar, 1997–2001[7]
- Patrick Fitzgerald, 2001–2012
- Gary S. Shapiro, 2012–2013
- Zachary T. Fardon, 2013–2017
- Joel R. Levin, 2017
- John R. Lausch Jr., 2017–2023
- Morris Pasqual, 2023–present
See also
References
- ^ Cahan, Richard (December 18, 2002). A Court That Shaped America: Chicago's Federal District Court from Abe Lincoln to Abbie Hoffman. Northwestern University Press.
- ^ "Northern District of Illinois | Meet the U.S. Attorney". www.justice.gov. March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 393.
- ^ a b c d e U.S. District Courts of Illinois, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ Simpson, Dick; Nowlan, James; Gradel, Thomas J.; Mouritsen Zmuda, Melissa; Sterrett, David; Cantor, Douglas (February 15, 2012). "Chicago and Illinois, Leading the Pack in Corruption; Anti-Corruption Report Number 5" (PDF). University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Political Science. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ "The Political Graveyard: U.S. District Attorneys in Illinois". politicalgraveyard.com.
- ^ "ACLU Of Illinois welcomes new board members". February 23, 2009.
External links
Media related to United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois at Wikimedia Commons
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