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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to  
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learn of the death of
Ellis E. Reid III of Chicago, who passed 
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away on August 7, 2007; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Ellis E. Reid III was born in Bronzeville and grew 
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up in Woodlawn and Park Manor; he graduated from Englewood High 
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School, then attended the University of Illinois at 
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Urbana-Champaign, where he received his bachelor's degree in 
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1956; he received his law degree from the University of Chicago 
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Law School in 1959; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Ellis E. Reid III was a well-known and respected 
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attorney and judge throughout the Chicago area; he was a 
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prosecutor in the case against former State's Attorney Edward 
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Hanrahan and police officers accused of wrongdoing in a raid 
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that left two Black Panthers dead; he successfully argued in 
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federal court to overturn a Chicago ordinance in 1970, which 
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prevented women from making drinks unless they had a liquor 
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license or were related to someone who did; he served for many 
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years as a judge in the Cook County Circuit Court's 1st 
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Municipal District in Chicago and he was the first black judge 
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to head that district; he also served as a Justice in the 
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Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District, 5th Division from 2000 
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to 2004; he became the court's presiding justice in 2004; and

 
 


 






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    WHEREAS, Ellis E. Reid III also represented various 
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organizations; among them, he served as General Counsel to 
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Local 453 of the United Auto Workers, AFL-CIO from 1960 to 
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1972; he served as General Counsel to Local 1006 of the 
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American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, 
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AFL-CIO from 1976 to 1983; and he was a proud, dedicated member 
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of and long-time General Counsel to the Kappa Alpha Psi 
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Fraternity, Inc.; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Ellis E. Reid III was a former President of the 
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Illinois Judicial Council; and he was a former President of the 
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Cook County Bar Association, the first African-American bar 
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association in the country; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Ellis E. Reid III had an intense love of the law 
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and had an interest in mentoring young law students; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Ellis E. Reid III is by survived his wife, Sheila; 
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his sons, Ellis E. Reid IV and David Reid; his daughter, 
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Noelle; his siblings, Betty Baugh, Virginia Nichols, and Harry 
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Reid; and his four grandchildren; therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL 
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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with 
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his family and friends, the passing of Ellis E. Reid III; and 
 


 






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be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the family of Ellis E. Reid III as an expression 
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of our sympathy.