At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 18, Lionel Jean-Baptiste will appear in a live program sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Evanston as a Zoom presentation. Jean-Baptiste is a leading member of the Haitian community, former member of the Evanston City Council and is now Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Judge Jean-Baptiste will share his thoughts on a variety of issues including the current situation in Haiti, the changing demographics of the local Haitian community, immigration issues and recent criminal justice legislation in Illinois.
A native Haitian, Judge Jean-Baptiste immigrated to the United States at age 14 and subsequently graduated from Princeton University with a degree in political science. As a political activist in New York, he also served as a teacher, adjunct professor and the Director of Special Housing for New York City.
Eventually returning to his adopted hometown of Evanston, he graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1990. For 20 years he practiced law in a wide variety of areas and worked on special cases, including African American reparations. In March of 2011 he became the first Haitian-American sworn in as Judge by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Registration is required: Register here.
Questions may be submitted to lwvevanston@gmail.com, or by calling LWV at 847-859-7883.
The League of Women Voters, a national nonpartisan political organization dedicated to promoting the active and informed participation of citizens in government, sponsors these events as a service to the community. The League of Women Voters neither endorses nor opposes candidates for public office. Visit lwve.org.