Bonnie Carol McGrath

Name: Bonnie Carol McGrath

Age (as of Election Day): 69

Current residence: Chicago

Current position: Sole practitioner, 1996-present

Past legal experience: Prosecutor, City of Chicago, 1992-96

Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: $2,460.83

Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: $0

Law school: The John Marshall Law School, 1993

Campaign website: fb.com/bonnie.mcgrath; chicagonow.com/mom-think-poignant

Family: One daughter, Molly McGrath, an artist

Hobbies/interests: Historic preservation, new music, outsider art; field trips of all kinds with various Chicago museums and other organizations

Have you ever run for office before?

Yes, for judge (1998, 2000, 2010, 2016, 2018).

Why should voters support your candidacy?

I think I would bring an outstanding array of skills to the bench. I have practiced in every division of the court, done voluminous amounts of legal writing, have taught law in many venues and have a proven lack of bias — having won 25 major journalism awards, my profession before becoming a lawyer.

I have also demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the legal community through bar association chairmanships and a presidency — and completing a voluminous number of projects for bench and bar.

Why do you want to be a judge?

I think being a judge would utilize my skills better than any other vocation in the legal field.

What was the most interesting case you handled as a lawyer?

It was a case in which a bicyclist was charged with several violations after he hit and severely injured an appellate court justice.

I went about prosecuting the case in a professional and knowledgeable manner. But when the circuit court judge, the appellate court judge-victim, the defendant and I began to discuss the case and express our views on the issues, it opened up a whole world of legal thinking to me that was very much outside the box. I will never forget those discussions in which the judge had the most unconventional ideas and that he expressed in open court.

What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?

There are three: Winning the Chicago Bar Association Pro Bono Award for sole practitioner, which is an award that recognizes those of us who go way above and beyond in the realm of pro bono work. Another is becoming a national expert in administrative law dealing with vehicle impoundment: specifically discussing the issues on television and at gatherings of bar association members, being consulted by out-of-state lawyers who were arguing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court and being asked to help the Chicago City Council make changes in the vehicle impoundment ordinances. The third is recruiting, organizing and supervising a group of attorneys in the Maywood courthouse who represented clients in need of civil orders of protection.

What qualities do you plan to bring to the bench?

Everything I have done — hundreds of arbitrations, 30 criminal appeals, hundreds of bench trials, several cases in juvenile court, four years as a city prosecutor and my teaching and writing about the law and courts have all prepared me well for being a judge. I also think my 15 years as a John Howard Association board member (a prison watchdog and reform group) gives me a unique perspective on alternatives to incarceration, rehabilitation and recidivism. I have also been complimented on my temperament and my objectivity throughout my life. Judges and law professors have recognized these qualities and have recommended me to represent their own friends and family, which I think says it all.