First Latino Chief Judge for Chicago Federal Court Takes Office

Judge Ruben Castillo sits on the bench in the Northern District of Illinois, the federal court system's longhand name for Chicagoland. According to a story in today's Chicago Tribune, he became a federal jurist in 1994, nominated to the US bench three years earlier by then-Senator Paul Simon. Last week, the Chicago native became the chief judge for the Northern District. He is the first Latino to achieve this milestone.

Chief Judge Ruben Castillo, with his 88-year-old father,
Ruben Sr., helping the jurist with his new robe. The action took place
during the event celebrating Castillo's becoming Chief Judge
for the Northern District of Illinois.
(photo: Scott Eisen/Associated Press)

The son of a Puerto Rican mother and a Mexican father, Castillo grew up in a tough Windy City neighborhood. He made up his mind to become an attorney while he attended a Chicago public high school. (Where are the naysayers about the quality and necessity of public education now?) While working his way through Northwestern University Law School, Castillo moonlighted as an assistant in Chicago's night bond courts. Let's just say his education was well rounded.

Castillo eventually became a federal prosecutor. One of his scalps was a Colombian drug "king," who provided Castillo with the ultimate respect: a very real death threat.

The Tribune article goes into a bit more detail about Castillo's resume and life story. The story's last line summarizes a sentiment many first generation immigrant and African-American high achievers share:

I hope history will bear out that I was just a good chief judge, and not a Latino chief judge.