09.19.24

Senate Judiciary Committee Advances April Perry, Jonathan Hawley To Serve As United States District Court Judges In Illinois

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the nominations of April Perry to serve as a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois and U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley to serve as a United States District Judge for the Central District of Illinois:

“We are pleased that the Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced the nominations of April Perry and U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Hawley to serve as United States District Court Judges in the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois.  Both Ms. Perry and Judge Hawley would bring strong qualifications and a wealth of experience to the bench.  Ms. Perry and Judge Hawley were also found unanimously ‘Well Qualified’ for their respective positions by the American Bar Association.

“Now that they have been advanced by the Committee, we will be pushing for quick consideration of their nominations by the full Senate.”

Under the leadership of Chair Durbin, the Senate has confirmed 212 judges to lifetime appointments on the federal bench during the Biden-Harris administration. Following the confirmation of Michelle Court to be U.S. District Judge for the Central District of California, eighteen lifetime judges – including four circuit court nominees and fourteen district court nominees – are eligible for a vote on the Senate floor.

Ms. Perry’s biography from the White House is below:

April Perry is Senior Counsel, Global Investigations and Fraud and Abuse Prevention, at GE HealthCare. Prior to GE HealthCare, Ms. Perry was the General Counsel for Ubiety Technologies from 2019 to 2022. From 2017 to 2019, Ms. Perry served as the Chief Deputy State’s Attorney and Chief Ethics Officer for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Ms. Perry previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois from 2004 to 2016. She held numerous leadership positions in that office, including as Supervisory Litigation Counsel from 2011 to 2016, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator from 2010 to 2016, Civil Rights and Hate Crimes Coordinator from 2014 to 2016, and as a Deputy Chief in Narcotics and Gangs from 2010 to 2011. Ms. Perry served as a law clerk for Judge Joel M. Flaum on U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 2003 to 2004. She received her J.D., magna cum laude, in 2003 and her B.S., magna cum laude, in 2000, both from Northwestern University.

Judge Hawley’s biography from the White House is below:

Judge Jonathan E. Hawley has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois since 2014. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Hawley served in the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Central District of Illinois from 1999 to 2014, including as the District’s Chief Federal Public Defender from 2011 to 2014. Judge Hawley served as a law clerk for Justice James D. Heiple on the Illinois Supreme Court from 1998 to 1999, for Judge Michael P. McCuskey on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois in 1998 and for Judge McCuskey on the Illinois Third District Appellate Court from 1997 to 1998. He received his J.D., cum laude, from DePaul University College of Law in 1992 and his B.A, cum laude, from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1992.

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