
Julius Hoffman (7 July 1895-1 July 1983) was the Republican Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 14 May 1953 to 3 February 1972, preceding Richard Wellington McLaren.
Biography[]
Julius Hoffman was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1895, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. He worked as a private practice lawyer from 1915 to 1936 and from 1944 to 1947, as general counsel for the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company from 1936 to 1944, as a Judge of the Superior Court of Cook County from 1947 to 1953, and as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1953 to 1983, assuming senior status in 1972. During his service as judge, he presided over a tax evasion case against mob boss Tony Accardo, an obscenity case against comedian Lenny Bruce, a deportation suit against Nazi war criminal Frank Walus, several desegregation suits, and, most notably, the "Chicago Seven" trial of 1969-1970. His antagonistic attitude toward the defense led to the appeals court vacating all of the Chicago Seven's convictions, and Hoffman assumed senior status in 1972.