Clarence Bernard "Bernie" Carey Jr. (December 16, 1934 – June 1, 2018) was an American politician who served as

Cook County State's Attorney The Cook County State's Attorney is the District attorney, chief prosecutor for Cook County, Illinois. The State's Attorney oversees the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States, with over 600 attorneys and 1,200 employees. The off ...

from 1972 through 1980. Afterwards, he would serve on the

Cook County Board of Commissioners The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, which includes the City ...

and as a judge on the

Circuit Court of Cook County The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 25 Illinois circuit courts, circuit courts (trial courts of original jurisdiction, original and general jurisdiction) in the judiciary of Illinois as well as one of the largest unified cour ...

. A Republican, he was twice elected (in 1972 and 1976) State's Attorney in strongly Democratic

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...

. In 1980, Carey was narrowly unseated by Democrat

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...

Early life and education

Carey was the son of a school principal. Carey graduated from

De La Salle Institute De La Salle Institute is a private, Catholic, coeducational high school run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by Brother Adjutor o ...

in 1952. He graduated from

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUMN) is a private Catholic university with its primary campuses in Winona and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It comprises an undergraduate residential college in Winona; graduate and professio ...

. He graduated from

DePaul University College of Law DePaul University College of Law is the law school of DePaul University, a private Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 125 full- and part-time faculty members and enrolls more than 500 students in its Juri ...

in 1958. While he would later be a Republican politician, during his time at

he chaired the school's chapter of Young Democrats.

Early career

Carey worked as an agent of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. He met Joseph I. Woods while working there. Woods hired Carey to serve as his undersheriff, and also ushered him into Republican Party politics. Working for Richard B. Ogilvie, Carey worked in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

state government, being selected by Ogilvie to organize the Illinois Bureau of Investigation in 1969.

1970 Cook County Sheriff campaign

In 1970, Carey was drafted to run as the Republican nominee for

Cook County Sheriff The Cook County Sheriff is the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, heading the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Office description Terms are currently four-years in length. Officeholders Election results , - , colspan=21 style="text-align:cent ...

, after incumbent Republican Joseph I. Woods opted to run for president of the

instead of the seeking a second term. Carey narrowly lost the election to Democrat Richard Elrod.Chicago Tribune, 11/24/1970 Ogilvie had been among those that had encouraged Carey to run for the office.

Cook County State's Attorney

1972 election

In 1972, Carey was nominated by the Republican Party for Cook County State's Attorney. His victory over incumbent Democrat Edward Hanrahan was attributed largely to

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

voters' outrage over the 1969 police killings of

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

leaders

Fred Hampton Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an American activist and revolutionary socialist. He came to prominence in his late teens and early 20s in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and c ...

and Mark Clark under Hanrahan's leadership. Hanrahan had also been facing charges of conspiracy to

obstruct justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...

relating to these killings until being acquitted the day before the general election. Hanrahan had won the Democratic Party's primary, and thereby its nomination, despite the

Cook County Democratic Party The Cook County Democratic Party is an American county-level political party organization which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics (and ...

, led by

Chicago Mayor The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and ...

Richard J. Daley, refusing to back his bid for reelection and supporting a primary challenger to him. Carey's campaign was managed by Don Rose. Carey won most of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's black wards, which largely since the 1930s had typically been won by Democratic candidates in elections. He performed competitively in all fourteen black wards, and won ten of them. Carey ran as a reformer. Carey had pledged that he would investigate allegations of

voter fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...

, kickbacks, and other crimes by the Democratic establishment of Chicago and Cook County. Carey ran what was described as an "understated" campaign. As a candidate, Carey referred himself as, "a professional, not a politician".

Tenure

Among the investigations Carey launched was a police spying scandal, involving the so-called " Red Squad" of the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest Law enforcement in the United States#Local, ...

infiltrating public organizations. Ultimately, after eleven years of litigation that arose, a 1985 court decision would end the Chicago Police Department's unlawful surveillance of political dissenters and their organizations. Carey would receive praise for running an honest department as state's attorney. Carey has received credit for lying the groundwork for the investigation that would become Operation Greylord. Carey's office was in change of the prosecution of

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered at least thirty-three young men and boys in Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois, Norwood Park Tow ...

. Under Carey, the office doubled its number of attorneys to around 500 and expanded its felony review program. It also quadrupled its felony cases. After Carey's 2018 death, Richard A. Devine, a Democrat who had served as Cook County State's Attorney from 1996 through 2008, remarked, "Bernie was a good guy. He worked hard to do a good job. He recruited professional prosecutors." In 1976, he was reelected over Edward J. Egan, a Democrat who had stepped down from the

Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois circuit courts. In Illinois, litigants generally have a right to first appeal from final decisions or judgements of the circuit court ...

in order to run against Carey. Egan had been recruited by Richard J. Daley to run against Carey. Carey campaigned against Egan, in part, by tying him to Richard J. Daley. Carey won what was seen as a strong victory, even carrying every single

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

of suburban Cook County. Carey was the first Republican to win multiple terms as Cook County state's attorney. In 1980, Carey was narrowly unseated by Democrat

, the son of the late Richard J. Daley.

Subsequent career

In 1982, Carey ran for both as the Republican nominee for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

and a Republican nominee to be a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners from suburban Cook County. He lost the race for president, but won election to be a member of the board. In 1986, Carey made an unsuccessful run for

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general ...

, replacing James T. Ryan as the Republican nominee after Ryan withdrew from the race due to

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

allegations. This meant that Carey had to withdraw from the race to win reelection to the Cook County Board of Commissioners, thus meaning his tenure on the board ended that December. In May 1988, the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the fiv ...

would appoint Carey a judge on the

Cook County Circuit Court The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 25 Illinois circuit courts, circuit courts (trial courts of original jurisdiction, original and general jurisdiction) in the judiciary of Illinois as well as one of the largest unified cour ...

, filling the vacancy left when George M. Marovich was appointed to the federal bench. His appointment was effective on May 5, 1988, and lasted until 1990. The constituency of the judgeship was suburban Cook County. In 1990, Carey won the Republican nomination for the judgeship unopposed, Carey won reelection in the general election.

Death

Carey died of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

on June 1, 2018, at his

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home, old folks' home, or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – or rest home, is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Ty ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. His widow, Mary Rita Carey, disclosed his death to the press on June 4. His widow revealed, after his death, that he had been diagnosed with the stomach cancer in November 2017.

Personal life

Carey had met Mary Rita, who would become his wife, at a church dance social at St. John Fisher in

Evergreen Park, Illinois Evergreen Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. In 2020, the population was 19,943. The village shares a border with Chicago on the north, east, and south sides; while also sharing a border with Oak Lawn on the west side. H ...

. He died just over a week shy of what would have been their 60th wedding anniversary. Carey was a longtime resident of

South Holland, Illinois South Holland is a village and south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, within Thornton Township. The population was 21,465 at the 2020 census. It is named after the Dutch province of South Holland. History The area ...

. After he retired at the age of 59, he and his wife moved to Florida in 1995. Carey and his wife had five children. They had ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren by the time of Carey's death.

Electoral history

Cook County Sheriff

;1970

Cook County State's Attorney

;1972 ;1976 ;

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners

;1982

Cook County Commissioner

;1982 ;

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

Illinois Attorney General

;

Circuit Court of Cook County

;

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

References

County commissioners in Illinois Cook County state's attorneys Illinois Democrats Illinois Republicans Illinois lawyers 2018 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer in Florida People from South Holland, Illinois DePaul University College of Law alumni Saint Mary's University of Minnesota alumni De La Salle Institute alumni 1934 births Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County {{Cook County State's Attorney, state=collapsed