CBA Record July-August 2020

State’s Attorneys at the time. “I was a passionate defense attorney. I enjoyed fighting for my clients, through the written word and oral argument,” said Ahmad. “But in reality, the assistant state’s attorneys are the ones who possess the power to charge offenses, to make offers, and to make sentencing recommendations. I figured, if people are going to have power like that, it should be someone like me who looks like most of those embroiled in the criminal justice system.” Ahmad spent three years in the State’s Attorney’s Office before leaving to accept a position with the city of Chicago and then returned again in 2011. She filled a judicial vacancy in 2014 for two years before returning to the State’s Attorney’s Office once again as Chief of the Juvenile Justice Bureau, where she oversees the Child Protection and Juvenile Delinquency Division prosecutions. Ahmad’s son, Trinity Goode, 22, is a senior at the University of Illinois at Chicago studying theater performance. She has made a conscious decision to live in Chatham, a community that faces significant socio-economic and public safety challenges. But she recalls from her own upbringing that “children cannot be what they cannot see.” “I am cognizant of being a lawyer and of going to work in a neighborhood where many people may not work or are modestly employed. I want these children to grow up seeing black profes- sionals, just like I did in my segregated neighborhood that was home to black teachers, sanitation workers, laborers, doctors, merchants, and healthcare workers.” “As a Cook County prosecutor, I believe it’s important that some of us live in the communities that are affected by our deci-

sions. How can you be effective if you don’t know the people you are sworn to protect and serve?” Commitment to ‘the People’ and the CBA When she is not working at the Juvenile Court or tending to her CBA duties, Ahmad keeps busy in her garden, fishing, and train- ing. She has run marathons, earned a 3rd degree black belt, and competed in body building competitions. Bodybuilding remains a passion, but with gyms closed during the pandemic, Ahmad can be seen riding her bike from Chatham to communities across Chicago waving and chatting. “If your client is ‘the People,’ you have to see and interact with them regularly,” she notes. Ahmad’s commitment to ‘the People’ will surely play out in her approach to her work on behalf of the Chicago Bar Associa- tion. This year she is asking members to rededicate themselves to the CBA, because she believes that it is through the Association’s underlying principles that lawyers can guide Chicago and the legal profession through the present challenges. “Join me in committing to the CBA’s underlying principles: to Chicago, to the Bar, and to the Association. I ask that you join me in my focus, because historically, transforming societies and righting wrongs is what lawyers do best.” Ahmad in front of the “Earth is Not Our Home”mural on South King Drive in Chicago. Photo by Lee Bey.

Ahmad and her son Trinity Goode walking on Chicago’s South Side. Photo by Lee Bey.

Sally Daly is the CBA’s Director of Public Affairs.

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