Seymour Frank Simon (August 10, 1915 – September 26, 2006) was an American lawyer, Appellate Court and

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice 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 ...

, and

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

member (

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

) in

Chicago, Illinois 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 ...

Life

Simon was born in Chicago, and grew up in the Albany Park neighborhood. In 1931 he graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School, and in 1935 from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, having earned a bachelor of science degree. Simon also attended law school at Northwestern and graduated first in his class in 1938. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1954, he married Roslyn Biel, a widow with three children.Chicago Tribune
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Political career

Simon was a member of the Democratic Party. His politics, however, were noted for being independent of the party line. Simon served on the state Supreme Court from 1980 to 1988, and prior to that had been an Illinois appellate court judge from 1974 to 1980. According to the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'': "After nearly 20 years on the Council and the board, Simon was elected to the bench, where he served 14 years as an appellate court and Supreme Court justice. He became a staunch death penalty opponent and wrote a 1988 opinion that helped prevent wrongful executions for the 1983 Jeanine Nicarico slaying."http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/74503,CST-EDT-edits28b According to the Illinois Supreme Court website: "He served in the U.S. Navy, 1942–45, as attorney, U.S. Department of Justice (Antitrust Division), 1938–42, and practiced law in Chicago, 1946-74. He was elected alderman of Chicago's 40th Ward and served from 1955–61, when he was appointed to the Cook County Board, 1962-66. He served as president of Cook County Forest Preserve District during the same period and was a member of the Chicago Public Building Commission from 1961-1967. He was reelected to the Chicago City Council in 1967 and continued in that office until elected to the Appellate Court in 1974." In 1995, Seymour Simon became the founding Chair of th
Chicago Debate Commission
a 501(c)(3) non-profit which partners with Chicago Public Schools to administer the citywid
Chicago Debate League
Seymour Simon steered the CDC for its first 11 years, until his death in 2006, and he was principally responsible for obtaining the initial investment of CPS in debate.

Awards

Seymour Simon was inducted as a Laureate of

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the Order of Lincoln, the highest award given b ...

and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 1997 in the area of Law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Seymour 1915 births 2006 deaths Lawyers from Chicago Members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois Chicago City Council members Military personnel from Illinois Northwestern University alumni Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century Illinois state court judges 20th-century American lawyers Illinois Democrats 20th-century Illinois politicians