Sandra Gisela Ramos
Name: Sandra Gisela Ramos
Party: Democratic
Age (as of Election Day): 62
Current residence: Chicago, Avondale neighborhood
Current position: Cook County circuit judge, 2010 – present
Past legal experience: Attorney, SG Ramos Ltd., 1993-2010; Cook County assistant attorney, 1986-93
Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: $40,714.95
Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: $34,807.42
Law school: DePaul University College of Law, 1986
Campaign website: sandraforjustice.com
Family: Husband, one son
Have you ever run for office before?
I’ve never been appointed. I ran five times in 17 years until 2009, when I got the Democratic endorsement. And then I got it.
This is not a campaign, it’s a mission. Because I’m first-generation, I don’t come from lofty names. The most important thing my parents could give me was an education.
I’m a founding member of the Illinois Latino Judges Association, and the issues that affect our community are very important to me. One of my campaign points is diversity — qualified diversity on the bench so you can have equal access to justice.
I’m not saying diversity just for diversity’s sake. But look around us. We can do this, but we’re not given the chance. And if you’re going to talk about sanctuary cities or anything else that affects our people, I think this conversation becomes more dynamic from a different point of view.
Why should voters support your candidacy?
I think they should support my candidacy because I’m qualified. I add a different dimension to the analysis, given my perspective.
I don’t think anyone that has taken it on to run for the appellate court has the extent of my resume, has the extensive litigation experience I have. And not just because I was working in a government agency. I put 17 years into my own practice, SG Ramos Ltd. And when you have to be in five courtrooms at 9:00, you know how it’s limited.
Many times, people don’t have the resources to hire an attorney, so I would do pro bono work for individuals who were in custody and couldn’t afford an attorney. And I would sign up for the night shift. You don’t sleep when you have a kid, anyway. My experience, I think, is very different in that regard. One thing I’m really concerned with is the equal access to justice.
I asked for that assignment in Branch 48, and we had to think differently, before Judge [Timothy C.] Evans started redoing the bond court system. The state has the burden of proof, and I take that very seriously.
Why do you want to be a judge?
I’m not doing this as a want-to: I’m doing this as a have-to. Because this is the only way I see that we as people of color will have an opportunity — Hispanics, pan-Asians — will have an opportunity to contribute to the dialog and the rulings in the reviewing court.
And as I told a particular supreme court justice who will remain nameless, if you’re not going to appoint us, the only way we can do this is if we run. [Campaigns are] expensive endeavors, and by and large, they’re self-funded.
I have a kid in college. But the priority is, even if I just crack it, it begins to have to give. The last appointment that became available didn’t go to us. If it went to another person of color, it would begin to show the diversity of our community.
What was the most interesting case you handled as a lawyer?
When you are in the throes of addiction, that’s a mental health illness.
One person in particular, a young lady, caused a disturbance in part of Englewood, and got arrested in Englewood on a felony disorderly conduct. This young lady was an attorney. That doesn’t make her any better than anyone else in my courtroom, but it was like, “What’s going on?” She’d gone off her meds.
The state resolved the case, and life goes on.
One of the most heart-wrenching things about where I was: Seeing less than a gram of drugs on people in custody, and them not getting help they needed. And we were wasting millions of dollars in law enforcement time, when that was never going to fly in my courtroom. Let’s remember where we are. We’re in Englewood. We have bigger problems.
I just felt like if you have very little resources in your home, you’re not going to say, “I think the wall would look better in chartreuse,” you know? You have to do some heavy lifting, and I just felt this has to be dealt with.
I was, however, blessed with amazing state’s attorneys and public defenders that understood that what we’re doing is a public service. The order of the day is “respect each other, and we’re going to move forward.” I took that to heart.
I grew up on the far South Side. When you have a crumbled infrastructure and your schools are bad, and your security’s bad, and you drive through and it looks like a war zone, why are you surprised that people want to check out, or that they don’t value their life? There’s got to be changes made, to reach out to the neighborhoods and make them an integral part of society.
What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?
I’m very proud of SG Ramos Ltd. And I’m so blessed I have my son. I don’t consider that an accomplishment. God gave me my son. I hope he grows up to be a respectful young man. But I also think the service that I have performed in Branch 48 — it was grueling but was very gratifying professionally.
What qualities do you plan to bring to the bench?
Sometimes I think when you interrupt the discussion that doesn’t include you, you do something that starts making it move in a direction that’s more inclusive. I asked the chief judge a few years back — I looked around and asked, “Where are the Hispanic presiding judges here?”
Those judges later on sit on the judicial committee for associate judges. You can pick from the ones we picked. And to me it seemed like a monopoly, and I’m very proud I took that on. I’m kind of proud that I’m a little bit of a disrupter.