Retired Illinois Supreme Court justice dies

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – Former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Benjamin K. Miller died Feb. 25 at the age of 87. He served on the Supreme Court from 1984-2001 and was chief justice from 1991-93.

Miller was the first Springfield native to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court. He was born in 1936 and graduated from Springfield High School in 1954, then the Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1958. He received his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1961. He graduated from the U.S. Army Intelligence School in Maryland in 1962 and served in the reserves for six years.

In 1978, Miller became a judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit and served as presiding judge in the Sangamon County Circuit Court Criminal Felony Division from 1976-1980. He became Chief Judge of the Seventh Circuit in 1981, before winning election to the Fourth District Appellate Court the following year. In 1984, Miller threw his hat in the ring for the Illinois Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Robert C. Underwood and became the youngest justice by more than a decade.

Throughout his career, Miller was an advocate for domestic-abuse victims, helping create a Springfield center for battered women and assembling the Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council to improve how courts respond to domestic abuse cases.

“Justice Miller will forever be known as a giant of the Illinois judicial and legal communities,” Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis said in a news release Tuesday. “He provided steady leadership and moved the courts forward in a profound way. He was always looking to the future and for ways to improve the court system. This is perfectly exemplified by his creation of both the Special Commission on the Administration of Justice and Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council.”

From 1988 to 1991, Miller chaired the Illinois Courts Commission which is the constitutional body that can discipline or suspend members of the judiciary. He also started the practice of appearing before the Illinois General Assembly to present the judicial branch budget, a tradition upheld by current chief justices.

“He has a real love of the Court, a love of the system, and a love of the institution,” said fellow Justice Charles E. Freeman, who preceded Miller in death in 2020. “The Court has always been something he has wanted to protect and keep in high esteem. That has always been very important to him, and it is a lesson and a goal that he has handed down to all of us.”

During his time as chief justice in 1991, Miller worked with former Supreme Court Justice Joseph Cunningham to rework part of the state’s judicial system.

“I’d like to see us look to the future rather than just react to problems as they arise,” Miller said at the time. “Then we can try to make sure we’re in a position to meet those needs as we work toward those goals.”

During his retirement, Miller sailed his 37-foot long boat through the Caribbean and down to South America and traveled in Europe and South Africa. In 2003, he said that he would like to get involved in law again.

“Law has been my life and my big interest,” Miller said.

A visitation will be held from 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, March 23 with a funeral to follow at Butler Funeral Home, 900 S. Sixth Street, Springfield.

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