Seymour Simon (August 10, 1915 – September 26, 2006) was an American lawyer, Appellate Court and Supreme Court Justice in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, and

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

member (

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

) in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Life

Simon was born in Chicago, and grew up in the Albany Park neighborhood. In 1931 he graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School, and in 1935 from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, having earned a bachelor of science degree. Simon also attended law school at Northwestern and graduated first in his class in 1938. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1954, he married Roslyn Biel, a widow with three children.Chicago Tribune
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Political career

Simon was a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. His politics, however, were noted for being independent of the party line. Simon served on the state Supreme Court from 1980 to 1988, and prior to that had been an Illinois appellate court judge from 1974-1980. According to the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'': "After nearly 20 years on the Council and the board, Simon was elected to the bench, where he served 14 years as an appellate court and Supreme Court justice. He became a staunch death penalty opponent and wrote a 1988 opinion that helped prevent wrongful executions for the 1983

Jeanine Nicarico The Jeanine Nicarico murder case was a complex and influential homicide investigation and prosecution in which two men, Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez, both Latinos, were wrongfully convicted of abduction, rape and murder in 1985 in DuPage ...

slaying."http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/74503,CST-EDT-edits28b According to the Illinois Supreme Court website: "He served in the U.S. Navy, 1942–45, as attorney, U.S. Department of Justice (Antitrust Division), 1938–42, and practiced law in Chicago, 1946-74. He was elected alderman of Chicago's 40th Ward and served from 1955–61, when he was appointed to the Cook County Board, 1962-66. He served as president of Cook County Forest Preserve District during the same period and was a member of the Chicago Public Building Commission from 1961-1967. He was reelected to the Chicago City Council in 1967 and continued in that office until elected to the Appellate Court in 1974." In 1995, Seymour Simon became the founding Chair of th
Chicago Debate Commission
a 501(c)(3) non-profit which partners with Chicago Public Schools to administer the citywid
Chicago Debate League
Seymour Simon steered the CDC for its first 11 years, until his death in 2006, and he was principally responsible for obtaining the initial investment of CPS in debate.

Awards

Seymour Simon was inducted as a Laureate of

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the ''Order of Lincoln'', the highest award given ...

and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 1997 in the area of Law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Seymour 1915 births 2006 deaths Lawyers from Chicago Members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court Chicago City Council members Military personnel from Illinois Northwestern University alumni Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American judges 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers Illinois Democrats