Source: The Rock River Times

The first African-American to sit on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago is retiring from the bench next month. Ann Claire Williams, 68, was appointed to the appellate court in 1999 by President Bill Clinton. She was appointed to the United States District Court by Ronald Reagan in 1985. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge LaShonda Hunt called her a “trailblazer” who cleared the way for other minorities aspiring to legal careers, The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reported. After law school, Williams became of the first of two African-American law clerks in the 7th Circuit, when she clerked for Judge Robert Sprecher. She then spent nine years as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, later serving as supervisor and deputy chief of the criminal receiving and appellate division. Williams was inducted into the Cook County Bar Association’s Hall of Fame in 2007.