RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Cynthia Y. Cobbs has been named the 2011 recipient of the Chicago Bar Association's Earl Burrus Dickerson Award; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this honor by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, This prestigious award, which recognizes minority lawyers and judges who have demonstrated a passion for equality in justice, was created in honor of the late Earl Burrus Dickerson, the first African-American to graduate from the University of Chicago Law School and one of the first African-American members of both the Chicago City Council and the Chicago Bar Association; and
WHEREAS, Cynthia Y. Cobbs has served for nearly nine years as Director for the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, a position which requires her to provide legislative and technical support to the Supreme and Appellate Courts, as well as conduct the election process to appoint and re-appoint Associate Justices and develop the Judicial Branch budget; and i'
WHEREAS, Cynthia Y. Cobbs is the first woman and the first African-American to head the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts and the fourth African-American to lead a court system in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Cynthia Y. Cobbs previously served as a research attorney for Illinois' first District Appellate Court, Chief Judicial Law Clerk to Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Freeman and as Chief Legal Counsel for the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts; and
WHEREAS, In addition to her J.D. from Kent College of Law, Cynthia Y. Cobbs holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Maryland; and
WHEREAS, Like the late Earl Burrus Dickerson, Cynthia Y. Cobbs has demonstrated throughout her legal career a sincere belief in equal opportunity for all Americans and a justice system which supersedes racial and ethnic barriers; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council assembled this ninth day of Febru...
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