Anita Alvarez
January 16, 1960
Anita M. Alvarez (born January 16, 1960) is the former State's Attorney for Cook County, Illinois, United States. Alvarez was the first Hispanic woman elected to this position, after being the first Latina to win the Democratic nomination for state's attorney of Cook County.
1982
A Chicago native, Alvarez was born and raised in the Pilsen neighborhood. She attended Maria High School and received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University of Chicago in 1982. She earned her J.D. degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1986.
1986
Alvarez has spent her entire legal career in the State's Attorney's Office. Alvarez began her career as an Assistant State's Attorney in 1986. She has argued before the Illinois Appellate Court and tried more than 50 felony jury trials. Prior to entering the race for Cook County State's Attorney, she served as Chief Deputy State's Attorney; Chief of Staff to the Cook County State's Attorney; Chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau; Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Bureau, and Supervisor of the Public Integrity Unit. She also spent 3½ years in the Gang Crimes Unit where she prosecuted gang-related homicides.
1996
Alvarez was promoted to the Supervisor of the Public Integrity Unit in 1996, where she was responsible for prosecuting city, county, and state employees who committed felonies and violated the public trust. She claimed to have tried police officers on corruption charges. In 1999, she was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Bureau where she supervised the prosecution of drug cases as well as long-term narcotics investigations in conjunction with Chicago and suburban police departments.
2001
Alvarez defended Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios in a suit against Berrios filed in 2001 by Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard. Blanchard was seeking a response from Berrios to a subpoena requesting documents related to a manager in Berrios' office obtaining two exemptions intended for a primary residence. Berrios ignored the subpoena, claiming that the County Inspector General had no authority over him.
2001
In 2001, Alvarez tried the case of the People of the State of Illinois v. Patrick Sykes, which was referred to in the media as the "Girl X Case". Alvarez's successful prosecution of Sykes resulted in his conviction for the predatory criminal sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl who was left paralyzed, blind, without speech and confined to a wheelchair after the brutal attack in the Cabrini Green housing project. Alvarez was elected Cook County State's Attorney in 2008. She was the first female, first Hispanic and first career prosecutor ever elected to this position.
2003
Another controversial case was a Wicker Park shooting of a homeless man, Sammy Tate, involving two falsely accused black minors. Alvarez approved the keeping of a 16-year-old minor (Deandre Washington) in solitary confinement in Cook County Jail for 4 years pending trial. The trial lasted 45 minutes in 2003 where both defendants were acquitted. Alvarez also refused to resign when asked, yet settled suit against the city in 2012 for malicious prosecution by local Cochran offices for $1 million. Additionally, Alvarez had no response when asked why she kept a minor in solitary for so long. At a 2018 Chicago City Club event, Alvarez's then-press agent still defended the ex-Cook County State's Attorney for not knowing how many minors were kept in solitary confinement during her term in office.
2008
Alvarez was elected Cook County State's Attorney in 2008. She won reelection in 2012. She ran for reelection again in 2016, but was defeated in the primary election by Kim Foxx.
November 2008
Anita Alvarez was elected as Cook County State's Attorney in November 2008. Alvarez faced two challengers from both the Republican and Green Party in November 2008's general election. The two challengers were Cook County Commissioner for the 16th district Tony Peraica, and the Green Party's Thomas O'Brien.
2009
In 2009, Chris Drew recorded his non-violent arrest for street peddling of art. The peddling charge was dropped and Alvarez pursued the much harsher charge of recording police officers' voices without their permission.
2010
In 2010, Tiawanda Moore sought to file a complaint against a police officer for groping her, and secretly recorded an interview with investigators on her smartphone, on the grounds that they were trying to intimidate her. Alvarez charged her with a Class 1 felony eavesdropping. Moore was acquitted in 2011, with one juror saying that the trial had been "a waste of time".
2012
Alvarez was reelected to a second term as Cook County State's Attorney in 2012 after defeating Republican challenger Lori Yokoyama. Alvarez won 77% of the vote.
March 02, 2012
Judge Stanley Sacks dismissed Drew's case on March 2, 2012, stating the eavesdropping law was unconstitutional and that it was too broad and criminalized innocent behavior. Alvarez announced she would appeal the ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois successfully sued Alvarez and she was ordered to cease prosecuting ACLU employees and their agents under the Illinois Eavesdropping Act.
2013
In 2013, Alvarez's office charged Dante Servin, the police officer who shot Rekia Boyd, with involuntary manslaughter. In 2015, Servin was cleared of all charges by the presiding judge, who pointed to the inconsistent charges as the reason for his decision. Alavarez was heavily criticized for undercharging Servin, and his consequent acquittal, which some critics alleged was an attempt by Alvarez to curry favor with the police department.
2013
In 2013, during a routine review of his case, she concluded that Lathierial Boyd, a man who had already served 23 years for murder, should never have been charged.
2016
Alvarez ran for reelection in 2016. Her opponents in the Democratic primary included former Cook County assistant state's attorney Kim Foxx and former federal and state prosecutor Donna More. On January 14, the Cook County Democratic Party endorsed Foxx for state's attorney. Alvarez lost the Democratic primary for state's attorney's race to Foxx on March 15, 2016 and called Foxx and conceded at approximately 9:00 p.m.
March 15, 2016
The video shows officer Jason Van Dyke shooting a black teenager 16 times as the teenager walks away. Based on the video, it is believed that at least three of the shots struck McDonald's body as he lay motionless on the ground, conflicting with police reports of the incident. Alvarez refused to resign, but on March 15, 2016, lost her re-election bid.
May 2021
Alvarez was married to Dr. James Gomez until May 2021. She has four children. Alvarez resides with her family in River Forest, Illinois.
