Locally, Latinos still under-represented on bench

If she is approved by the Senate, Sonia Sotomayor will, in one fell swoop, make the U.S. Supreme Court almost as Hispanic as the nation as a whole. She would comprise about 11.1 percent of the court while Hispanics make up about 15.4 percent of the nation.

If only things were so easy at the local level.

Here, Hispanics on the bench clock in at far lower percentages, even though the Hispanic population makes up a greater percentage of the whole.

For example, in Lake County, which is 19 percent Hispanic, only one judge is Hispanic. In the 16th Judicial Circuit, which covers Kane, Kendall and DeKalb Counties, none of the 36 judges are Hispanic. Kane County is about 28 percent Hispanic. Similarly, there are no Hispanic judges in McHenry County, which is about 11 percent Hispanic.

Similarly, not one of the 46 judges in DuPage County is Hispanic. In Lake County, only one of 35 judges is Hispanic.

Official numbers were not available from Cook County, but the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund estimates about 20 of the 418 judges are Hispanic, or about 4.8 percent. Cook County's population, meanwhile, is about 23 percent Hispanic.

"So, clearly, the number of Hispanic judges on the Cook County Circuit Court don't come near the population," said Ricardo Meza, regional counsel for the national group, which seeks to support and protect legal rights of Latinos in the U.S.

At the federal level, two of the current 20 sitting Northern District of Illinois judges are of Hispanic descent, and one of the 10 magistrate judges is Hispanic, said Chief Judge James Holderman. That means both benches are about 10 percent Hispanic.

In the U.S., Hispanics are "the second-largest and fastest-growing population ... so I think it's very appropriate for President (Barack) Obama to take that into consideration," said Meza.

Meza thinks that Sotomayor's nomination will help pave the way for more Hispanic representation on the local level.

"If we can find qualified Hispanics to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, we clearly have qualified Hispanics ... to serve on the local courts," Meza said.

Lake County Circuit Court Judge Jorge Ortiz called Sotomayor is "a woman of tremendous achievement, having been raised in the housing projects by a single mother and going on to attend two of the most prestigious universities" in the country, Princeton and Yale.

"She exemplifies the American dream and is someone all Americans can be proud of," Ortiz said.

Anita Alvarez, Cook County's first female Latina state's attorney, said she finds Sotomayor's nomination "inspiring."

"I think it's great for young girls today to have a role model like her," said Alvarez.

Alvarez said she's not sure what the barrier to more Hispanic representation in the Cook County judiciary is, and would be curious to know not only the percentages serving, but the percentages of those applying as well.

"As more and more Latinos get to law school, hopefully we'll see the numbers increase," said Alvarez.

Daily Herald staff writers Tony Gordon, Charles Keeshan and Jake Griffin contributed to this report.