Ann Claire Williams
Encyclopedia
Ann Claire Williams is a United States Circuit Judge
for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
in 1970. Before becoming a lawyer, Williams began her career as a music and third grade teacher in the inner city public schools of Detroit, Michigan, after graduating with a Bachelor's Degree from Wayne State University in Elementary Education and a Master's Degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Michigan
while working full time. She received her Juris Doctor
from the University of Notre Dame
. Williams is also Catholic.
In 1979, Williams began serving as an adjunct professor and lecturer at Northwestern University School of Law
and at the John Marshall Law School (Chicago)
.
On August 5, 1999, President Clinton nominated Williams to a vacancy on the Seventh Circuit that occurred because of the retirement of Judge Walter J. Cummings, Jr.
. Williams was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate
in a voice vote on November 10, 1999. Her Senate confirmation made Williams the first-ever African-American judge on the Seventh Circuit.
In May 2009, Williams was mentioned by some media outlets as a possible choice for nomination to the Supreme Court
to replace retiring Justice David Souter
.
She was considered to be a potential candidate to replace now retired Justice John Paul Stevens
in 2010.
Judge Williams has received numerous awards from schools and legal organizations for her contributions to the law and the legal community. In 2000, Williams received the Chicago Lawyer Person of the Year award, and in 2004, both Crain’s magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times named her as one of Chicago’s 100 Most Influential and Powerful Women. In 2005, Judge Williams received the Arabella Babb Mansfield Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers, the organization’s highest honor. In 2006, she received the Spirit of Excellence Award, the highest honor awarded by the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. In 2007, Judge Williams received awards from the BWLA and MLER organizations that she co-founded. That year, she was also inducted into the Cook County Bar Association’s Hall of Fame.
Other awards that Judge Williams has received include the William H. Hastie Award from the National Bar Association; the Chicago Bar Association’s Vanguard Award and Earl Burrus Dickerson Award; the Illinois Judicial Council Special Achievement Award; the Woman with Vision Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois; the Women Making History Award from the National Council of Negro Women; and the National Black Law Students Association Alumni Award. Judge Williams has also received Honorary Degrees from the Universities of Notre Dame and Portland, Chicago-Kent, and William Mitchell Colleges of Law, and St. Mary’s, Colby, and Lake Forest Colleges, as well as numerous awards from other universities and legal organizations.
In addition to her memberships in various bar groups, including the Chicago, Women’s, Cook County, Black Women Lawyers, Federal, and American Bar Associations, Judge Williams also serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame, The National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Equal Justice Works, and Just The Beginning Foundation. She is also a member of the Delta Sigma Theta
sorority.
on December 11, 1999, Judge Williams declined to say whether she is a Republican or a Democrat, instead calling herself politically independent. "I've written on thousands of cases across the board, and I think it would be hard to type me," she said. "I don't think there is a type. I am not in Congress. We don't legislate in the courts."
However, she also stated that she won't forget her roots or let her judicial robe "get in the way of my humanity."
In August 2011, Justice Williams was once again in Mombasa, Kenya, on the invitation of Kenya's new Chief Justice
Willy Mutunga for the 8th Annual Kenya Judges Colloquium held at the Serena Beach Hotel and Spa. This was seen by many as a critical follow-up visit, coming as it did after the Kenyan judiciary underwent radical transformation following the overhauling of the country's constitution
which was unanimously passed via a referendum in August, 2010.
In 2007, Judge Williams led a delegation in Liberia for Lawyers Without Borders, teaching trial advocacy skills to Liberian magistrate judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys. She plans to return in 2008 to spearhead training for all of Liberia's circuit trial judges and twenty additional lawyers. Also in 2007, Judge Williams was invited to and attended meetings in the United States and Canada as one of 28 delegates of the Canada-United States Legal Exchange Program attended by judges and members of the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Canada and the American College of Trial Lawyers.
In 2002 and 2003, Judge Williams led delegations to Ghana to train members of the Ghanaian judiciary in areas including judicial ethics, case management, and alternative dispute resolution. She has been influential in developing an ongoing relationship between the Ghanaian and United States judiciaries, and in 2004, she hosted in the United States a delegation from Ghana, which included the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana and other Ghanaian judges during their three-week study of the United States courts. In 2008 trained Federal Judicial center Ghanaian Judges at the new Judicial Training Center in collaboration with Fordham Law School and other organizations in the creation of the Ghana Judicial Training Center.
For several years, Judge Williams has also served as a member of international training delegations that have traveled to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania and the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at the Hague. On her multiple trips to the ICTR and ICTY, she has taught trial and appellate advocacy courses to prosecutors of persons accused of serious violations of human rights law committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
United States court of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Early life and education
Born in Detroit, Williams earned a bachelor's degree from Wayne State UniversityWayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
in 1970. Before becoming a lawyer, Williams began her career as a music and third grade teacher in the inner city public schools of Detroit, Michigan, after graduating with a Bachelor's Degree from Wayne State University in Elementary Education and a Master's Degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
while working full time. She received her Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from the University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame Law School
The Notre Dame Law School, or NDLS, is the professional graduate law program of its parent institution, the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, NDLS is the oldest Roman Catholic law school in the United States. NDLS is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 100 Law Schools" by U.S. News &...
. Williams is also Catholic.
Professional career
After law school, Williams’s legal career began as a law clerk with Judge Robert A. Sprecher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She was one of the first two African American law clerks in that court. She then worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago for nine years, trying major felony cases and appearing before the Seventh Circuit. She was the first African American woman to serve as supervisor in that office and was promoted to deputy chief of the criminal receiving and appellate division. Ultimately, she became the first Chief of the Organized Drug Enforcement Task Force, responsible for organizing federal investigation and prosecution activities for a five-state region.In 1979, Williams began serving as an adjunct professor and lecturer at Northwestern University School of Law
Northwestern University School of Law
The Northwestern University School of Law is a private American law school in Chicago, Illinois. The law school was founded in 1859 as the Union College of Law of the Old University of Chicago. The first law school established in Chicago, it became jointly controlled by Northwestern University in...
and at the John Marshall Law School (Chicago)
John Marshall Law School (Chicago)
The John Marshall Law School is a law school in Chicago, Illinois, that was founded in 1899 and accredited by the American Bar Association in 1941. The school was named for the influential nineteenth century U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall....
.
Federal judicial service
Williams was a U.S. District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1985 until 1999. President Reagan had nominated her on March 13, 1985 to a newly created district court seat, and she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 3, 1985. Her confirmation made her the first-ever African-American female judge appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.On August 5, 1999, President Clinton nominated Williams to a vacancy on the Seventh Circuit that occurred because of the retirement of Judge Walter J. Cummings, Jr.
Walter J. Cummings, Jr.
Walter Joseph Cummings Jr. was a United States Solicitor General and a federal judge.Cummings was born in Chicago, Illinois to Lillian Garvy Cummings and Walter J. Cummings, Sr...
. Williams was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in a voice vote on November 10, 1999. Her Senate confirmation made Williams the first-ever African-American judge on the Seventh Circuit.
In May 2009, Williams was mentioned by some media outlets as a possible choice for nomination to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
to replace retiring Justice David Souter
David Souter
David Hackett Souter is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He served from 1990 until his retirement on June 29, 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat vacated by William J...
.
She was considered to be a potential candidate to replace now retired Justice John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from December 19, 1975 until his retirement on June 29, 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest member of the Court and the third-longest serving justice in the Court's history...
in 2010.
Professional Recognition and Awards
In 2010, Judge Williams became a recipient of the 28th Annual Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award. This award from the American Judicature Society honors U.S. federal judges "whose careers have been exemplary, measured by their significant contributions to the administration of justice, the advancement of the rule of law, and the improvement of society as a whole." http://www.uscourts.gov/news/TheThirdBranch/10-06-01/Two_Appellate_Judges_Selected_As_Joint_Recipients_of_28th_Annual_Devitt_Award.aspx Judge Anthony J. Scirica (3rd Cir.) was a co-recipient of the 2010 Devitt Award.- Judge Williams was honored with the 2008 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award by the American Bar Association.
Judge Williams has received numerous awards from schools and legal organizations for her contributions to the law and the legal community. In 2000, Williams received the Chicago Lawyer Person of the Year award, and in 2004, both Crain’s magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times named her as one of Chicago’s 100 Most Influential and Powerful Women. In 2005, Judge Williams received the Arabella Babb Mansfield Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers, the organization’s highest honor. In 2006, she received the Spirit of Excellence Award, the highest honor awarded by the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. In 2007, Judge Williams received awards from the BWLA and MLER organizations that she co-founded. That year, she was also inducted into the Cook County Bar Association’s Hall of Fame.
Other awards that Judge Williams has received include the William H. Hastie Award from the National Bar Association; the Chicago Bar Association’s Vanguard Award and Earl Burrus Dickerson Award; the Illinois Judicial Council Special Achievement Award; the Woman with Vision Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois; the Women Making History Award from the National Council of Negro Women; and the National Black Law Students Association Alumni Award. Judge Williams has also received Honorary Degrees from the Universities of Notre Dame and Portland, Chicago-Kent, and William Mitchell Colleges of Law, and St. Mary’s, Colby, and Lake Forest Colleges, as well as numerous awards from other universities and legal organizations.
In addition to her memberships in various bar groups, including the Chicago, Women’s, Cook County, Black Women Lawyers, Federal, and American Bar Associations, Judge Williams also serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame, The National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Equal Justice Works, and Just The Beginning Foundation. She is also a member of the Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University...
sorority.
Political views
In an article in the Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
on December 11, 1999, Judge Williams declined to say whether she is a Republican or a Democrat, instead calling herself politically independent. "I've written on thousands of cases across the board, and I think it would be hard to type me," she said. "I don't think there is a type. I am not in Congress. We don't legislate in the courts."
However, she also stated that she won't forget her roots or let her judicial robe "get in the way of my humanity."
International Contributions
Internationally, in 2006, Judge Williams co-led a conference on constitutional law and law reform in Nairobi, Kenya attended by over 125 Kenyan attorneys. Later that year, Judge Williams was invited by the Chief Justice of Kenya as the first non-Kenyan judge to attend and address the Kenyan Judicial Colloquium, an annual four-day gathering of the Kenyan judiciary, on issues such as mediation, case management, and judicial ethics. At the Chief Justice's invitation, Judge Williams returned in 2007 and 2008 to present to the Colloquium issues relating to judicial training around the world. During that visit, Judge Williams also spearheaded and taught at the first Kenyan Women's Trial Advocacy Program for lawyers who represent victims of domestic violence. Judge Williams returned in August 2008 to lead another women's trial advocacy training program for 40-50 Kenyan lawyers and law students.In August 2011, Justice Williams was once again in Mombasa, Kenya, on the invitation of Kenya's new Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
Willy Mutunga for the 8th Annual Kenya Judges Colloquium held at the Serena Beach Hotel and Spa. This was seen by many as a critical follow-up visit, coming as it did after the Kenyan judiciary underwent radical transformation following the overhauling of the country's constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
which was unanimously passed via a referendum in August, 2010.
In 2007, Judge Williams led a delegation in Liberia for Lawyers Without Borders, teaching trial advocacy skills to Liberian magistrate judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys. She plans to return in 2008 to spearhead training for all of Liberia's circuit trial judges and twenty additional lawyers. Also in 2007, Judge Williams was invited to and attended meetings in the United States and Canada as one of 28 delegates of the Canada-United States Legal Exchange Program attended by judges and members of the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Canada and the American College of Trial Lawyers.
In 2002 and 2003, Judge Williams led delegations to Ghana to train members of the Ghanaian judiciary in areas including judicial ethics, case management, and alternative dispute resolution. She has been influential in developing an ongoing relationship between the Ghanaian and United States judiciaries, and in 2004, she hosted in the United States a delegation from Ghana, which included the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana and other Ghanaian judges during their three-week study of the United States courts. In 2008 trained Federal Judicial center Ghanaian Judges at the new Judicial Training Center in collaboration with Fordham Law School and other organizations in the creation of the Ghana Judicial Training Center.
For several years, Judge Williams has also served as a member of international training delegations that have traveled to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania and the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at the Hague. On her multiple trips to the ICTR and ICTY, she has taught trial and appellate advocacy courses to prosecutors of persons accused of serious violations of human rights law committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.