Devine honors Judge Reid's civil and judicial legacy

Devine honors Judge Reid's civil and judicial legacy

Once a lawyer for Dr. Martin Luther King, Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine bestowed the prestigious annual C.F. Stradford to Judge Ellis E. Reid -- a judge he called a "torch bearer" who has pursued his judicial career in the pursuit of justice.

"He has lit a path for all of us to follow," said Devine referring to Reid who became a lawyer in 1959 and quickly rose as a preeminent civil rights lawyer Devine said has been a champion of civil rights ever since.

It was Reid's law firm, McCoy, Ming and Black led by attorneys William R. Ming Jr., Chauncey Eskridge, and Reid that successfully tried a case filed against King by the state of Alabama before an all-white jury in the 1960's where King was accused of income tax evasion.

During a ceremony held at the Chicago Cultural Center, 69 W. Washington, Devine presented the Stradford award to Reid named after C. Francis Stradford whose father was a hotel owner who found himself jailed after he worked "to quiet an angry mob during the race riots in Tulsa.

"We honor a man who as a young African American lawyer raised the bail for his father and then went on to successfully defend him," said Devine.

"He was a co-founder of the National Bar Association for African Americans. Locally, he worked to establish the Cook County Bar Association whose membership is made up of many of the leaders of our community today."

Devine said Reid's legacy "lives in the equal protection laws for which he fought so tenaciously."

He praised Devine for devoting hours of work to disadvantaged youth as well as his leadership with the Bethel AME Church and for 13 years with the Better Boys Foundation.

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