Circuit Court
Of Cook County, Law Division, 2001 Daley Center,
Chicago, Illinois
As lawyer, public official, and now Judge in the Law-Jury
Division of the Circuit Court in Chicago, Judge Arnette
Hubbard has consistently demonstrated her commitment
to the American way of life and her sensitivity to
the people who serve and protect it. She is aware
of the weighty responsibilities which accompany citizenship
in a democracy.
Hubbard’s career as a private practitioner spanned
two decades in Illinois and federal courts. She began
as a general practitioner. Soon thereafter, she limited
her practice to Criminal Defense, and subsequently
to Civil Litigation for private and public clients.
Hubbard tried numerous cases to verdict before Chicago
area juries.
Judge Hubbard served Vice-Chair of the “Illinois
Commission on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board
of Education,” a statewide body established
by an Act of the Illinois General Assembly. The
Commission’s inaugural event re-enacting and
commemorating the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision
in Brown was live cast to all Illinois public schools
as well as via PBS stations and the internet on
May 17, 2004.
Internationally, Arnette Hubbard was as an official
monitor of the historic elections in South Africa
in 1994 in which Mr. Nelson Mandela won the presidency.
In 1995 she was appointed to President Bill Clinton’s
U.S. Presidential Observer Delegation for the Parliamentary
and Local Elections in Haiti wherein former President
Jean Bertram Aristide regained the presidency. She
has participated in legal symposiums in Europe and
other parts of the globe.
Arnette Hubbard was a Commissioner on Chicago’s
first Cable Commission, an appointment made by Mayor
Harold Washington. Subsequently, the Chief Judge
of the Circuit court appointed Hubbard to three
consecutive three-year terms as Commissioner/Secretary
of the Chicago Board of Elections. Hubbard left
the election board in 1997 to accept appointment
by Illinois Supreme Court Justice and Chief Judge
Charles E. Freeman to fill a judicial vacancy. Hubbard
was elected judge in a countywide contested election
in 1998 and retained in 2004.
Judge Hubbard’s positions in volunteer and
professional organizations include National Bar
Association where she was first female president
of NBA and founding Chair of the National Bar Institute;
Cook County Bar Association as first female president;
Association of Election Commission Officials of
Illinois as three-term president; Southern Illinois
University Alumni Association as president; American
Law Institute as elected member; and as member of
the Illinois Supreme Court Committee for evaluating
applicants seeking admission to the state bar for
three terms.
Hubbard’s years of service on boards and committees
of numerous civic and professional groups reflect
her conviction that volunteering is both an obligation
and a privilege; that volunteer service improves the
quality of life for a community, for a country. For
such service she has been the recipient of numerous
awards and honors. Such recognition includes:
National Bar Association’s
Gertrude Rush Award which award Hubbard established
in recognition of the sole female founder of
the National Bar Association (also the first
NBA award named for a female) and the NBA’s
Wiley Branton Award
Cook County Bar Association’s Stratford
Award and Wright Award
PUSH Award of Excellence
Firefighters for Justice Award
Postal Employee “Postmark of Pride”
Outstanding Judge Award
Sixth Grace Presbyterian Church Black History
Award, and the Phenomenal Woman Award
Voter education and participation has been a lifelong
passion for Hubbard. As Co-Chair of Lawyers for Washington
she was a part of the massive effort which resulted
in the elections of Harold Washington as Mayor of
Chicago. At the Board of Elections, Hubbard was central
to citywide programs to educate and register high
school and college students to vote. She developed
“Desert FAX” to enable serviceperson engaged
in military actions overseas to vote by FAX. She re-formatted
and annotated the National Voter Registration Act
of 1993 and served on the statewide Task Force created
to help implement it.
Arnette Hubbard received her Juris Doctor degree
from The John Marshall Law School which honored
her with its Distinguished Alumnus Citation. Her
undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Mathematics
was earned from Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale which bestowed on her it’s Oblisk
Award and installed her as a member of the Distinguished
Alumni Wall of Fame. She is a member of Alpha Kappa
Alpha sorority.
