Former Jefferson County Judge Tracie Todd Sues Chicago for Rescinding Job Offer

A former Jefferson County judge is suing Chicago, arguing that the city rescinded a job offer after she left her seat on the bench to work there.

Tracie Todd, who served as a circuit criminal judge in the Birmingham division of Jefferson County for over a decade, left her position for a job as a city attorney in Chicago. Her departure followed years of battles with Alabama’s higher courts, some stemming from a ruling she issued deeming Alabama’s capital murder sentencing scheme unconstitutional.

Todd, now residing in Cook County, Illinois, first took the bench after being elected as a Democrat in 2012. She was re-elected in 2018, and her term would have expired in 2025 had she stayed in Birmingham. She resigned last year.

She moved to Chicago in 2021, and the following year an Alabama commission noted she had been in the Windy City for two months when she was supposed to be working in Birmingham. She was accused of not adhering to the Court of the Judiciary’s order to return to work on Dec. 6 of that year to begin a period of 90 days without pay, a sanction imposed for ethical violations.

Her tenure was marked by controversy. In 2016, Todd ruled Alabama’s capital murder sentencing scheme unconstitutional and barred the death penalty for four men charged in three murders. She argued that allowing judges to override jury recommendations of life without parole and instead impose the death penalty was unconstitutional.

That practice has since been outlawed in the state, making Alabama the last state to ban judicial override.

In the same ruling, she highlighted several issues with the state’s death penalty, including that judges imposed it more often during or near election years; that there wasn’t a standard system for assigning capital cases to judges; that Alabama executes more people than other, larger states; and that Alabama doesn’t provide sufficient staff for its judges.

Her lawsuit, filed last month in Cook County, called that decision a “landmark ruling.”

“Following her courageous and powerful ruling, conservatives in Alabama did everything possible to besmirch and hurt Tracie’s standing as a judge, including filing complaints with the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, which resulted in a 90-day suspension of Todd’s judicial duties,” the suit states.

“The political efforts to hurt Todd as a result of her now legendary stand against racism in Alabama’s administration of the death penalty are recounted in numerous articles online,” the lawsuit adds, citing a 205focus.com article among others.

After the inquiries into her decisions, the lawsuit says, Todd became stressed and exhausted by the “political environment in Alabama.”

Todd then moved to Chicago.

Last year, she applied for a job as the assistant corporation counsel for the city of Chicago. She went through the job application process and was offered the job in the city’s law department and labor division.

The lawsuit includes a copy of Todd’s job offer, which was set to pay her $117,804 plus benefits. Her start date was in December 2023 and her specific duties included advising the city on labor relations, union matters, unfair labor practices, and more.

After accepting the job, Todd resigned from the bench in Birmingham in November 2023.

The suit claims, “While the environment was stressful for her in Alabama, Tracie never would have resigned her judgeship there, unless she found alternative employment.” Todd argues the offer from Chicago was unconditional.

But then, 10 days before she was set to start the new job, the city rescinded its job offer. The rescinding notice was also included in the lawsuit filing, with no explanation provided.

Todd asserts she wouldn’t have left her judgeship if she hadn’t secured the Chicago job, and would have continued receiving her judge’s salary and benefits.

She’s requested a jury trial for damages.

Todd’s history with Alabama’s justice system following the 2016 ruling spanned years. In 2018, a state appeals court asked the Judicial Inquiry Commission to investigate whether she violated ethical rules.

In 2021, she was temporarily removed from the bench after a scathing report from the state’s Judicial Inquiry Commission. Later that year, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary found Todd guilty of violating the canons of judicial ethics and suspended her for 90 days without pay.

In 2022, Todd faced additional charges from the JIC related to her conduct following the earlier sanctions. These charges included refusal or the appearance of refusal to follow the Court of the Judiciary’s orders; making false or misleading statements, including to fellow judges and to the Court of the Judiciary; failing to make provisions for cases during purported illness; and disrespecting and refusing to cooperate with fellow judges in the performance of their administrative duties.

She was found guilty in October 2022 on one count of violating judicial ethics and was suspended, again, without pay for 120 days.

Todd’s attorney in the Chicago case, Cass Casper, told 205focus.com via email, “Chicago is in desperate need of brilliant legal talent like Tracie’s... At the very last minute, without even the courtesy of a ‘why’ or ‘from who,’ the city pulled the rug out from under her.”

“We filed this case to remind Mayor Johnson and Chicago that – as surely every Alabaman knows – the definition of good business is honoring your deals and commitments.”