Judge Owens Shelby
Opponent Baumann: “Being Black doesn’t mean you’re better”
Judge Owens Shelby is offended over remarks made by his opponent, Attorney Deidre Baumann, who is white, who said being Black doesn’t mean you are a better candidate and that she has more experience than he does.
Shelby said Baumann doesn’t know him but vowed that she will after this election, and listed his many endorsements and his experience, including being a judge for the past 10 years. Both are running in the Seventh Sub-Circuit District.
Reminded that the initial goal was to further diversify the bench, including getting more African American judges, Baumann said, “It’s critically important that a bench be diversified, but that doesn’t mean that because someone is Black that they are better suited as a judge.
“I heard stories that defendants,” when coming before a judge, said, “the last person they want to go in front of is an African American male,” said Baumann. “It’s not about race. It’s about commitment to the community. It’s about understanding culture and what people go through.
“We have to go beyond just Black and white,” Baumann said during a Sunday, February 18, interview on WVON. “It’s got to be experience. It’s got to be what have you done for the community.” Baumann said she works with Black Men United and also works with people in underserved communities.
It was 20 years ago when the push for more sub-circuits began, led by then-Illinois Senator Howard Brookins, Sr., along with Representative Anthony Young, who later became a judge, and Representative Paul Williams, now a lobbyist.
Brookins passed a bill increasing the number of sub-circuits and said as a result, “We have more Black judges today,” but he admitted his fight to get more Black judges on the bench cost him his re-election.
In an interview with the Chicago Crusader, Brookins said, “It is better to be in a courtroom where someone understands your background than just you showing up there.
“In the old days, when you went to court, whether you were a lawyer or what have you, you were still not treated with respect.” Brookins said it’s important to be before a judge “who understands your background and where you come from.”
Baumann, who was raised in Rogers Park and received her law degree from the University of Illinois, has been practicing for 31 years; she began her career in the Public Defender’s office. She has worked in all courtrooms and for people who are underserved.
When asked why people should vote for her rather than Judge Shelby, Baumann cited her experience as one reason, which she says “is far greater than his. He was practicing before he was appointed and so [through] his political connections, he was practicing I think 13, 14 years, so my 31 years are far greater.”
Baumann continued: “He has been a State’s Attorney. That’s all he does. That is not what I’m about. I was with the Public Defender’s office.” Baumann said Shelby moved out of the community of Forest Park after she did.
When contacted, Judge Shelby took issue with Baumann’s description of him.
“I would ask Ms. Baumann to do her research before speaking about me.” Shelby denied Baumann’s claim that his experiences were limited to his being a State’s Attorney.
“My experiences actually include practicing real estate law for over a decade, doing adoption work, doing probate work, contract review, criminal defense work, serving as assistant counsel to the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” said Shelby.
He was referring to the time when he helped research and drafted laws, including working as a contract attorney for Loevy and Loevy on the class action lawsuit where the Cook County Jail was sued for the inhumane treatment of individuals entering jail.
“The breadth of my experiences is such that I was found qualified and recommended by all of the bar associations in just 12 years of practicing law,” Shelby told the Chicago Crusader. “I understand that after 31 years of practicing, Ms. Baumann has still not been found qualified or recommended by all of the bar associations. I wish her luck on that journey.
“Please don’t undermine my inspirational journey by saying I was only appointed because of my political buddies. Ten years ago, I was similar to Deidre Baumann, where I also had negative bar ratings and hardly any endorsements,” he said.
“I lost a few elections, but I kept at it and my community saw that. I worked hard and I was able to fix my bar ratings, and later the leaders in the community supported me because of my positive ratings and my work in the community.
“My candidacy has always been about being a symbol of hope to show that anything is possible through hard work, dedication and being a good person. My victory will keep inspiring those that come after me. I don’t expect Ms. Baumann to know much about me since she just moved into the area maybe a year ago but now, she will,” vowed Shelby.
The fight to increase judicial diversity began in 1991 with the creation of more sub-circuits resulting “somewhat” in an increase of judges of color, as the Injustice Watch recently pointed out, but “the bench is still disproportionately white, and male compared with the county population.”
Injustice Watch says research has shown that “even when judicial diversity doesn’t result in differences in the application or interpretation of the law, the presence of diverse judges creates more public trust in the court system.”
“Having judges who reflect the demographics of a community prevents the biases of one group from unfairly predominating in the courts,” Injustice Watch stated.
Shelby listed his judicial endorsements as proof he is not running as a result of his “political buddies.” Among them are a Congressional and an Illinois House endorsement. Other endorsements represent union leadership, political action committees, suburban mayors, city and county government, a state senator and state representatives, and current and former Chicago aldermen.
