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Freeman, First Black Justice, Retires After 27 Years On Illinois Supreme Court

Charles E. Freeman
handout
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Illinois Supreme Court

Thursday was the last day on the job for the first African American on the Illinois Supreme Court.

Justice Charles E. Freeman retired after more than 27 years on Illinois’ highest court.

He was the longest serving of the current justices by a decade, and was not only the first African American on the court, but the first to serve a three-year term as its chief justice.

Freeman was born in 1933 in Virginia, a descendant of slaves freed before the Civil War. He went to law school in Chicago and became a trial judge in 1976.

P. Scott Neville
Credit handout / Illinois Supreme Court
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Illinois Supreme Court
Justice P. Scott Neville is Freeman's successor. He was temporarily appointed by the other justices and can run for a full term in 2020.

In that role, he administered the oath of office to Chicago's first and only black mayor, Harold Washington.

Freeman’s successor is Appellate Justice P. Scott Neville — the second African American to sit on the high court. The other justices appointed him to fill the vacancy until 2020; if he wants to keep the job after that, he’ll have to run for it.

Brian Mackey formerly reported on state government and politics for NPR Illinois and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. Before that, he was A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
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