William H. Hooks campaign site announced

Judge William H. Hooks, appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2008 to the countywide Berland vacancy, and subsequently slated by the Cook County Democratic Party for that post, has a campaign website up and running. That's a link to the site in the preceding sentence; a link has also been added to the Sidebar.

Hooks' website stresses his long-time association with the United States Marine Corps. He retired in 1995 as a Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves after over 20 years of service, including service as an intelligence officer and in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. After his active duty military service, Hooks worked for two of Chicago's larger insurance defense firms, Pretzel & Stouffer, Chtd. and Hinshaw & Culbertson. Later, before going on the bench, Hooks was the principal of his own firm, Hooks Law Offices, P.C.

Hooks is a former president of the Cook County Bar Association. He was also the first African-American president of the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

According to Hooks' campaign site, N’Digo Magazine has included Hooks in its list of "Who’s Who in N’Fluential Black Chicagoans" on several occasions. Hooks was also named as one of 50 "Men of Excellence" by the Chicago Defender in 2009.

An attorney since 1981, Hooks is a graduate of Chicago's Lindbloom Technical High School. According to his campaign website, Hooks rose to the rank of Eagle Scout while living in the West Woodlawn neighborhood in the late 1960s and early 1970s; he is a member of the National Eagle Scout Association. In an email, Hooks advises that one of his daughters is setting up a campaign Facebook page as well. But I have yet to venture into that brave new world and can not presently supply a link.