Former Public Defender Notable Reversals

Judge since: 1991

Prior to becoming a circuit judge, Lubin worked as an assistant public defender for 17 years. On the bench, Lubin has heard delinquency matters in the Juvenile Justice Division since 1991, shortly after he was first appointed to be judge. He was later elected to a full term in 1994. In 2001, Lubin won an award for Exemplary Dedication in Juvenile Justice Initiatives Dealing with At-Risk Youths from the National Gang Crime Research Center.

Bar Association ratings

This year: The CCL rated Lubin well qualified, citing his legal ability, temperament, and fairness. The CBA rated him qualified and the ISBA recommended him for retention.

Past: Lubin was rated positively by the CCL, CBA, and ISBA in 2012.

Notable: Lubin presided over a high-profile case in 1994 of a 10-year-old who beat and stabbed his elderly neighbor to death, reportedly over the racial slurs she used toward him. Lubin sentenced the boy to five years of probation with the Department of Children and Family Services, which placed him with a relative. The decision was met with outrage, but the Chicago Tribune defended Lubin for complying with the existing law which prevented him from either incarcerating the child or placing him in a facility without finding he had a psychological disorder. Lubin’s decisions were rarely reversed by the appellate court up until 2012, but in the past six-year term, a series of Lubin’s decisions have been overturned or reversed in part, with some of these cases also being remanded. In a few recent cases, the appellate court found Lubin erred by finding juveniles delinquent of multiple crimes for the same act.