Federal court system in Illinois marks 200th year

CHICAGO (AP) - The federal court system in Illinois where Abraham Lincoln argued cases before becoming president and where Al Capone saw his Prohibition Era crime spree come to an end is marking the 200th year since its founding.

Events marking the bicentennial begin Friday morning at Chicago's federal courthouse. They include the cutting of a ceremonial cheesecake and unveiling of a new painting of the building by a district judge.

The chief judge for northern Illinois, Ruben Castillo, was also set to speak.

Later in the day, officials will recognize U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin for what a courthouse statement says has been the Illinois Democrat's "steadfast role in support of the federal judiciary."

The actual date of the system's establishment in Illinois by an act of Congress was March 3, 1819.