Trail-blazing former Justice Charles Freeman dead at 86: ‘A consensus builder [who] treated everyone equally and with respect."

Former statee Suprme Court Justice Charles Freeman in 1997 | AP file

Former Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Freeman, the first African American to serve on the state’s highest bench, has died. He was 86.

In a statement, Chief Justice Anne M. Burke said Justice Freeman had become a friend and mentor while they served on the bench together.

“However, we became close friends once we became colleagues and I considered Charles to be my mentor. He was a gentleman and a truly gracious individual. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. He was a consensus builder and treated everyone equally and with respect.”

Justice Freeman won election to the Cook County Circuit Court in 1976 and served for 10 years, according to a statement from the Illinois Supreme Court.

During that tenure, he made history.

He became the first African American to swear in a Chicago mayor, administering the oath of office in 1983 to Harold Washington, the city’s first black mayor.

Freeman and Washington were longtime friends and shared a law office for several years.

Cook County Circuit Judge Charles E. Freeman swears in Harold Washington as the mayor of Chicago in 1983. Outgoing Mayor Jane Byrne is at right File Photo.

In 1986, Justice Freeman was elected to the first district appellate court and also served as a presiding judge for the third division before being elected to the Supreme Court in 1990 to fill the vacancy of Seymour Simon, the Supreme Court statement said. In 1997, he ascended to the position of chief justice — he was the first African-American to do so.

Justice Freeman served on the court for 28 years, from 1990 to 2018. Current Justice P. Scott Neville Jr. was picked by Justice Freeman to serve out the rest of his term on the bench.

He was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1933, the descendant of slaves freed by Quakers before the Civil War. After receiving his bachelor’s from Virginia Union University in 1954, Freeman came east, attending the John Marshall Law School where he earned his law degree in 1962.

He is survived by his son, Kevin (wife Cami) Freeman, two grandchildren, as well as his brother James Freeman in Richmond, Virginia, according to the state Supreme Court’s statement. A memorial service hosted in Chicago by the Illinois Supreme Court will be announced at a later date.

This is a developing story.