Charles E. Freeman (December 12, 1933 – March 2, 2020) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

attorney who served as a justice of 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 ...

. He was elected to the position on November 6, 1990, becoming its first

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. ...

justice. He served as chief justice from May 12, 1997, to January 1, 2000. He retired from the court on June 14, 2018.

Early life, family and education

Freeman was born in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. Freeman received his undergraduate degree from

Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Richmond, Virginia. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...

in 1954 and J.D. degree from the John Marshall Law School in

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 ...

in 1962.

Career

Illinois Governor The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

Otto Kerner appointed Freeman to the Illinois Industrial Commission in January 1965 as an arbitrator. Freeman heard thousands of work-related injury cases. In September 1973 Governor Dan Walker named Freeman to the

Illinois Commerce Commission The Illinois Commerce Commission is a quasi-judicial tribunal that regulates public utility services in the U.S. state of Illinois. The mission of the ICC is "to pursue an appropriate balance between the interest of consumers and existing and em ...

, a rate regulatory agency with power over telephone, electricity and gas companies. Freeman worked on the commission until December 1976. Freeman also conducted a general law practice from 1962 until 1976, when he was elected to the

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

Circuit Court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

. He served ten years on the court and swore in

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city’s mayor at the age of ...

, a personal friend, as

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...

. Freeman was a member of several

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

s and professional

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

societies, and has won a number of awards throughout his career. From his re-election in 2002, Freeman ranked as the senior member of the Illinois Supreme Court until his retirement in 2018. While on the court he showed particular interest in administrative reform and

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

ial misconduct cases.

Personal life

Freeman was married to his wife, Marylee, until her death in 2013. They have one son, an attorney, and two grandchildren. Freeman died on March 2, 2020, in

. He was 86.

References

External links

Charles E. Freeman
at Illinois Supreme Court {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Charles E. 1933 births 2020 deaths Illinois state court judges Justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois African-American judges African-American people in Illinois politics University of Illinois Chicago School of Law alumni Virginia Union University alumni Illinois Democrats Lawyers from Chicago Lawyers from Richmond, Virginia 20th-century Illinois state court judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century African-American lawyers

Early life, family and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links