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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
IN MEMORY OF THE HONORABLE JUDGE LOUIS GARIPPO
WHEREAS, Cook County Circuit Judge Louis Garippo, widely respected member of the bar and bench died on May 31, 2016 at the age at age 84; and
WHEREAS, Judge Garippo attended Fenwick High School, the University of Notre Dame and DePaul University law school. His father was a 36th Ward Democratic committeeman who held a court administrator’s post; and
WHEREAS, Judge Louis Garippo will long be remembered for his stellar reputation for wisdom and fairness. As a judge, he presided over one of the most notorious murder cases in Chicago history; the 1980 trial of John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 men and boys. As a supervisor in the Cook County state's attorney's office, he helped prosecute Richard Speck for the murder of eight student nurses in a townhome in Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Judge Louis Garippo enjoyed a lengthy and distinguished legal career. He was genuinely admired and respected by all of the lawyers in the courtroom, defense attorneys as well as prosecutors. He was similarly respected and admired by the clerks and staff as well as his fellow members of the bench; and
WHEREAS, During the Gacy trial, Judge Garippo’s equanimity and wisdom guided the crowded courtroom and the multitudes following the trial through the lengthy and oftentimes disturbing testimony. He not only maintained the decorum of the courtroom, his conduct and statements upheld the highest ideals in the legal profession. Many were profoundly moved by Judge Garippo’s speech to the Gacy jurors as he thanked them for their service. “What we do for the John Wayne Gacys, we do for everyone.”
WHEREAS, Louis Garippo was a judge widely respected for his legal acumen. The trial of John Wayne Gacy case was closely examined by the media and the legal community. Through all of the years of intense legal examination and scrutiny Judge Garippo’s decision withstood appeal; despite fourteen years of appeals, a retrial was never ordered; and
WHEREAS, while a leader at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Louis Garippo set the highest standards for morality and integrity as he helped train the next generation of prosecutors. He was uniformly regarded as one who respected and took seriously this responsibility. He often instructed the young trainees that nothing was more important to a lawyer than an impeccable reputation; more than anything else he taught this ideal by example; and
WHEREAS, as a prosecutor, he handled many high-profile cases in the early 1960s, including that of the Guido-Yonder gang of torture-burglars, a $250,000 burglary of the Zahn Drug company warehouse and the Summerdale cops-as-robbers scandal, which led Mayor Richard J. Daley to name an outsider police superintendent: University of California criminologist O.W. Wilson; and
WHEREAS, after the Gacy trial, Louis Garippo went into private practice. He was later recruited to research public opinion on whether the University of Illinois should retain Chief Illiniwek as a mascot. He had to wade through nearly twenty thousand letters on the subject; and
WHEREAS, first and foremost Louis Garippo cherished the title of husband and father. He always put family as a top priority. He will be sorely missed by his wife, Colette; daughters, Ellen and Mary and his son, Tom; and a sister, Anna Maria Sciaraffa; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners of Cook County, on behalf of the 5.2 million residents of Cook County who he served dutifully, commemorates the extraordinary life of the Honorable Judge Louis Garippo, and herewith expresses its sincere gratitude for the invaluable and innumerable contributions he has made to the Citizens of Cook County, Illinois; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this Resolution be spread upon the official proceedings of this Honorable Body and that an official copy of the same be tendered to the family of the Honorable Judge Louis Garippo.end