Marvin Aspen

The ACLU-initiated 1966 class action lawsuit Dorothy Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) alleged that the CHA engaged in racial discrimination in public housing policy, as prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[4] The lawsuit alleged that the CHA built public housing solely in areas with high concentrations of poor minorities, in violation of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines and the Civil Rights Act. The goal of the lawsuit was to begin building public housing in predominantly white neighborhoods.

HUD entered as a party to the lawsuit, and the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976 as Hills v. Gautreaux (425 U.S. 284).

On January 23, 2019, Judge Aspen signed an order approving a settlement agreement between the plaintiffs and the CHA. The signed settlement agreement lifts 53 years of court-ordered oversight of the CHA. Under the settlement agreement, the CHA is obliged to, among other things, develop housing for low-income families in mixed-income communities.  If the CHA timely performs its obligations under the settlement agreement, the case will come to an end by July 31, 2024.

In 1991, Judge Aspen presided over the trial of six leaders and a financer of the El Rukn street gang. The jury convicted all seven defendants on a variety of serious federal charges that included murder conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy, and other racketeering charges. In June 1992, Judge Aspen sentenced five of the defendants to life in prison and the other two defendants to fifty years.  Then on September 20, 1993, Judge Aspen ordered a new trial because the government had knowingly used witnesses’ perjured testimony to convict the defendants and failed to disclose that cooperating witnesses received benefits from the government, a fact that the defendants could have used to impeach the government’s witnesses.  In so holding, Judge Aspen wrote “This is the most painful decision that this court has ever been obliged to render, making the crafting of this opinion a sad and difficult undertaking.”[5]

Judge Aspen presided over a burglary case involving former Chicago boxer Johnny Lira. Judge Aspen is credited with giving Lira a compassionate criminal sentence that allowed Lira to continue his boxing career. Instead of full prison time, Judge Aspen periodically released Lira so he could continue his training on the condition that he stay out of trouble and, when incarcerated, teach other inmates recreational boxing. Lira went on to become a Golden Gloves champion and the United States Boxing Association’s lightweight champion.

Judge Aspen presided over Sanford v. CBS, Inc., where the plaintiff, Fred Sanford, accused Michael Jackson of stealing the song Jackson dubbed “The Girl Is Mine.”  Jackson testified in Judge Aspen’s courtroom to defend against the copyright infringement accusations.  During Jackson’s testimony, he sang, clapped, and drummed the witness stand.

The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization or PATCO was a United States trade union that operated from 1968 until its decertification in 1981 following an illegal strike that was broken by the Reagan Administration.  Judge Aspen presided over the key labor dispute where the government moved to restrain picketing activities of striking air traffic controllers.  Judge Aspen held that PATCO’s strike was unlawful but declined to imprison PATCO’s leadership.

Fred Roti was a Chicago Alderman from 1968-1991 who was indicted in 1990 for RICO conspiracy, bribery and extortion for fixing criminal cases in the Circuit Court of Cook County, including murder cases involving organized crime members or associates. On January 15, 1993, Roti was convicted on 11 counts, including two out of three "fixing" charges: taking $10,000 for influencing a civil court case and $7,500 to support a routine zoning change. But he was acquitted of the most serious allegation, sharing $72,500 for fixing a Chinatown murder trial in 1981. Roti was sentenced to 48 months' imprisonment followed by a six-month work release program.  At Roti’s sentencing, Judge Aspen commented that “there is a bigger victim, and that’s the whole democratic process. When you have the courts of law that are fixed, when you have a city government that is fixed, you are attacking the core of democracy. You’re saying that this democracy…is the same as any other corrupt regime.”

Judge Aspen presided over In re: Ameriquest Mortgage Co. Mortgage Lending Practices, MDL No. 1715, No. 05-cv-7097 (N.D. Ill. 2005).  There, Judge Aspen adjudicated a large-scale mortgage fraud case related to the 2000s housing bubble.

In U.S. v. Board of Education of City of Chicago, No. 80-cv-5124, 621 F. Supp. 1296 (N.D. Ill. 1985), a school desegregation case, Judge Aspen held that the government violated a consent decree that obliged Chicago Public Schools to desegregate.

In U.S. v. John Laurie (N.D. Ill. 1984), Judge Aspen presided over an Operation Greylord case against a former state court judge.  In that case, the Scott Turow, author, was the AUSA and former US Attorney Tony Valukas defended Laurie.

Judge Aspen also presided over the first litigation arising from former Chicago Police Officer John Burge’s conduct in Hobley v. Burge, No. 03-cv-3678 (N.D. Ill. 2003).

In In re: Aimster Copyright Litigation, MDL No. 1425, No. 01-cv-8933, 252 F. Supp. 2d 634 (N.D. Ill. 2002), Judge Aspen granted a preliminary injunction for plaintiffs (record companies, songwriters, and music publishers) that shut down Defendant’s music sharing business.

Judge Aspen granted an injunction that prevented Loyola University from creating a 20 acre lakefill on its Lake Shore campus in Lake Michigan Federation v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 90-cv-2809, 742 F. Supp. 441 (N.D. Ill. 1990).

Judge Aspen enjoined construction of on-ramps to Lake Shore Drive in Lincoln Park in Friends of the Parks v. Dole, 87-cv-7991, 1987 WL 18918 (N.D. Ill. 1987).

In U.S. v. Mario Lloyd, No. 89-cr-427 (N.D. Ill. 1990), Judge Aspen adjudicated the criminal trial involving an infamous family drug ring.

Judge Aspen is a past member of the Board of the Federal Judicial Center. He has served as a member of the United States Judicial Conference and the Conference’s Committees on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System, Trial Bar Implementation, and Foreign Court Relationship.[3]

He served as Chair of the Committee on Civility of the Seventh Federal Judicial Circuit. This Committee promulgated civility standards that were subsequently adopted by the Seventh Circuit, and by courts and bar associations nationwide.[3]

Judge Aspen is a past member of the American Bar Association’s Board of Governors. He served as a member of the ABA Journal Board and of the House of Delegates. Judge Aspen is President of the American Bar Association Museum and a member of the Board of the American Bar Foundation. He has served as member of the Councils of both the Section of Litigation and the Section of Criminal Justice, and as Chair of the Section of Criminal Justice Committee Rules of Criminal Procedure. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the Section of Criminal Justice Magazine, Criminal Justice. He is past Co-Chair of the Liaison with the Judiciary Committee of the Section of Litigation. He has served as a member of the Jury Comprehension Study Committee of the Section of Litigation and has participated in Section programs throughout the country.[3]

Judge Aspen helped establish the Judicial Intern Opportunity Program (“JIOP”) with the American Bar Association in response to a study that observed only 15% of all judicial clerkships were held by minorities—even though minorities then made up 30% of the population. JIOP’s mission is to provide opportunities to students who are members of racial and ethnic groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the profession, students with disabilities, students with economic disadvantages, and students who identify themselves as LGBT, and women. In JIOP’s first 20 years, it yielded internships for more than 2,800 diverse students throughout the country. Judge Aspen serves as an Honorary National Co-chair of JIOP.

Judge Aspen has served as a member of the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association, as Chair of the Criminal Law Committee, and as a member of the Board of Editors of the Chicago Bar Record. He has been a member of the Chicago Bar Association's Special Commission on Criminal Justice, Committee on Continuing Legal Education, and Committee on Development of Law.[3]

Judge Aspen has served on the Public Relations, Corrections, Fair Trial/Free Press and Criminal Law Committees.[3]

Judge Aspen was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the American Inns of Court Foundation. He is also a past president of the Northwestern University School of Law American Inns of Court Chapter.[3]

Judge Aspen was a draftsman for and a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee to Revise the Illinois Criminal Code of 1961, Chair of the Associate Rules Committee of the Illinois Supreme Court, Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Ordinance Violation Problems, and Vice-Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases.[3]

Judge Aspen was a member of the Federal Bar Examination Committee of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. He served on the Governor's Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice. Judge Aspen has been a member of the Cook County Board of Corrections and the Board of the John Howard Association.[3]

Judge Aspen is past president of the Northwestern University School of Law Alumni Association. He has served as a member of the Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago Law School and the Northwestern University School of Law, and was a member of the Visiting Committee of the Northern Illinois University School of Law. He chaired the Advisory Committee for Short Courses (Post Law School Educational Program) at Northwestern University School of Law.[3]