Carpentersville trustee pleads not guilty in racial slur case

Carpentersville Trustee Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a charge of disorderly conduct stemming from an incident in which she compared her black neighbors' tree-climbing children to monkeys.

An attorney for the first-term trustee said a motion to dismiss the case on constitutional grounds would be filed in the coming weeks.

"The comments Ms. Sliwinski made are protected speech and cannot be criminally punished," said Gabe Fuentes, an attorney with Chicago-based Jenner & Block representing Ramirez-Sliwinski pro bono.

More Coverage Links Racially tinged comment may be end of Carpentersville trustee's career [04/07/08] Others say Carpentersville trustee's comment won't doom careeer [04/08/08] Trustee now won't quit Obama spot [04/09/08] Trustee never intended to step down as delegate [04/10/08] Trustee agrees to mediation with neighbors [04/11/08] Neighbors bury the hatchet [04/13/08]

Ramirez-Sliwinski was given a $75 citation for disorderly conduct in early April when her black neighbors complained the trustee made a racist comment in telling three children to "quit playing in the tree like monkeys."

The children, ages 8 and 9, were climbing a small magnolia tree in the front yard of a home next door to Ramirez-Sliwinski on Sparrow Road.

Ramirez-Sliwinski has said she was worried the children would fall out of the tree.

Fuentes said his client's words were not threatening.

"She did not call the children monkeys," Fuentes said after Wednesday's arraignment. "Ms. Sliwinski was referring to their actions."

Still, the remarks captured national media attention, igniting a firestorm over whether the comments were racially charged.

At one point, Ramirez-Sliwinski's role as an elected delegate for democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was in doubt.

Kane County Judge Susan Clancy Boles set a hearing for 10 a.m., Wednesday, July 23 at Carpentersville local court.