“I am very excited and cognizant of the importance of my role. I have been pursuing becoming a judge for some time now. I have been practicing law for more than 21 years and I am looking forward to moving onto the next step.” –Cynthia Ramirez

Born and raised in the neighborhood of Wicker Park, Ramirez, of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, followed her life’s passion and earned her law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. Twenty-one years into her career, Ramirez takes comfort in knowing she has plenty to offer if elected as Cook County Circuit Court Judge. She began her legal career as an assistant public defender handling both criminal and civil matters in the Juvenile Justice, Child Protection, First Municipal and Post Conviction divisions of Cook County Circuit Court. Currently, Ramirez is an Administrative Law Judge with the State of Illinois. She has served as an Administrative Law Judge for approximately 13 years, serving with the Illinois Dept. of Human Services and IL Department of Public Health. Ramirez is seeking the O’Brien Jr. Judicial vacancy for Cook County Circuit Court because she believes that the judicial branch, like all areas of society, should be reflective and responsive to all of the communities in Cook County.

MISSION
I certainly hope to bring a unique sensitivity to the bench that I think is missing. I will say that in Cook County there are 425 sitting judges in the circuit court at his time. Of those 425, 20 of them are Latinos and seven of them are women. So I certainly hope to bring diversity to the bench that is lacking when you hear those numbers.