NCJW supports Judge Nancy Maldonado. Here’s why:
Judge Nancy Maldonado was born in Illinois to parents who migrated from Puerto Rico. Currently a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Judge Maldonado has dedicated her career to advancing the cause of equal justice for all. Prior to her confirmation to the district court in 2022, she was a partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland where she specialized in employment discrimination and other civil rights cases in both state and federal courts. Judge Maldonado is currently the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Northern District Court of Illinois, and if confirmed would be the first Latina to serve on the Seventh Circuit.
Judge Nancy Maldonado’s stance on important issues:
Civil Rights
While at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, Judge Maldonado specialized in employment discrimination and other civil rights cases. Among successes during her time at the law firm, she won an important settlement for seasonal farmworkers by bringing a class action case challenging violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. A case she brought challenging a racially discriminatory tax assessment plan that cost low-income Cook County residents to pay significantly higher property taxes resulted in major reforms to the tax assessments in this community. She represented a bricklayer who brought a workplace harassment suit due to his race against the Chicago Department of Water Management. And, Judge Madlonado was part of the legal team for a commercial driver whose gender discrimination suit was dismissed in a lower court, with the dismissal reversed by the Seventh Circuit.
Gun Violence Prevention
Judge Maldonado was part of the legal team filing an amicus brief on behalf of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in an Illinois state court suit challenging the Cook County Assault Weapons Ban under the Second Amendment.
Experience:
Ms. Maldono is currently a Judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Prior to her confirmation to the district court in 2022, she was a partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland where she also served the State of Illinois: In 2019, Governor J.B. Pritzker appointed her to the Illinois State Police Merit Board and, in 2021, the Illinois Attorney General appointed Judge Maldonado to serve as a Special Assistant Attorney General investigating consumer fraud. After graduating law school, Judge Maldonado clerked for Judge Ruben Castillo on the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Education and Awards:
Judge Maldonado graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1997. She earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2001, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and served on the editorial board of the Colombia Human Rights Law Review. She has received numerous awards including Mentor of the Year from The Hispanic Lawyers’ Association of Illinois, Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow from Harvard Law School, and Notable Minority Lawyer by Crain’s Chicago Business.
Professional Affiliations:
Judge Maldonado founded the Chicago Yoga Project, a non-profit organization that promotes non-violence through yoga classes. She serves on the Board of Directors of several organizations including La Casa Norte, an organization that serves homeless families and youth in Chicago; Chicago Lawyer Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and Apna Ghar, a non profit organization that seeks to end gender violence.