Castillo goes far and fast
From West Town where everyone
was poor in the '50s, to the federal bench
By MANUEL GALVAN
Ruben Castillo predicts that he will come under heavy scrutiny as Illinois' first Hispanic federal judge. But a probing spotlight is nothing new for the Chicago native who is expected to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before mid-spring. As a law student, Castillo targeted the prestigious Chicago firm of Jenner & Block for his first job as an attorney. He had read an article in which senior partner Albert E. Jenner Jr. said that his firm would hire minorities if it could only find some who were qualified. Fresh out of Northwestern University School of Law in 1979, Castillo became an associate attorney at Jenner & Block and the only minority at the firm.
In his next job, as an assistant U.S. attorney, his bilingual skills and heritage earned him more than his share of drug cases. There was no inner conflict for Castillo who prosecuted scores of Latin American drug lords. "These dealers were hurting my community," he says simply. Most — including many who were convicted — considered him "a tough, but fair prosecutor." Yet one Colombian drug dealer felt betrayed because of the attorney's ethnicity.
"He put a contract out on me," Castillo recalls about the 1987 death threat. "For 60 days, we feared for our lives." The "we" was not only Castillo's wife and two children but agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) who were assigned to protect the family 24 hours a day. Because his time at home was greatly increased, Castillo says he caught up on his reading. Even that didn't always get his mind off the situation. "I had always saved the magazine in the Sunday New York Times to read later and collected a pile," Castillo remembers. "I couldn't help reading one of those issues that detailed how killing prosecutors and judges in Colombia was a way of life." Agents posing as hit men eventually gathered enough evidence to convict and sentence the drug lord to life. By the time Castillo left the U.S. Attorney's Office in 1988, he was the recipient of special commendations from the FBI, the DEA, the Secret Service and the U.S. Customs Service for "exemplary work." He also earned a special achievement award from the Department of Justice.
Castillo left to become director and regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in Chicago. He had put off the organization once, early in his career as prosecutor. This time he could not refuse those recruiting him. "They told me it was the right thing to do because I had acquired extensive legal skills and was obligated to use them on behalf of the community," he says. "I had been putting away bad people. Now I could devote myself full time to improving the Hispanic community."
For all the employment discrimination, immigration, education and voting rights issues he argued, there was perhaps no case with more impact than his 1990 census and redistricting efforts. His civil rights advocacy resulted in the creation of Chicago' s first Hispanic congressional district. A pivotal point in the case was the unified position of Hispanics and African Americans to retain three black districts and create a Latino one. Castillo gives no small credit to his inner city background for the ease with which he worked with African Americans and non-minorities. In 1991 he left MALDEF to
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become a partner in the Chicago law firm of Kirkland & Ellis.
Castillo, 39, grew up in West Town, a blue-collar community on the city's near northwest side. During its population peak before the 1920s, its diversity made it a model, urbanized neighborhood in an industrialized city. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was an ethnic mix of Poles, Italians, Ukrainians, Hispanics, African Americans and Southern whites. "The common denominator was that we were all poor," he says. "But we didn't feel poor."
Castillo's journey from the old neighborhood to being nominated by President Bill Clinton to the federal bench this year may have been far, but it was fast. Last year a 23-member commission, selected by Illinois' U.S. Sens. Paul Simon (D-Makanda) and Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Chicago), interviewed more than 130 applicants for three vacancies on the U.S. bench for the Northern District of Illinois. The commission had replaced the usual screening by the state's senior senator from the president's party. The new system had been designed to recommend on merit and, at the same time, not overlook minorities. Ironically, the final selections involved arguments about color and gender. In addition to Castillo, a Hispanic, the senators named Illinois Appellate Court Justices Alan Greiman and Blanche Manning, a white and an African-American female.
The Justice Department cleared Castillo first because he had already undergone an extensive background check as a prosecutor. Since August, when he was named by the senators, Castillo has been reflective. Although the view from his office at Kirkland & Ellis stretches as far as the eye can see of Lake Michigan, he keeps his sights focused. "I don't look beyond this," he said of the appointment. "I just want to be the best federal judge I can be."
Castillo kids about taking his third career pay cut to go on the bench. The first came when he left Jenner & Block to get more trial practice. The second was working for MALDEF. "I've always believed that you should make the most of your opportunity," he says. "If I work hard at being a federal judge, the future will take care of itself. "
Manuel Galvan is a Chicago-based writer and marketing consultant.
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