By MKPE ABANG
Thanks to technology, Nigerians – and other interested parties across the world – are fed almost by the minute, a blow-by-blow account of developments in Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s pursuit to unravel the real identity of Mr. Bola A. Tinubu, in Chicago State University (CSU) in the United States of America.
While the majority of so-called mainstream media houses in Nigeria, mostly based in Lagos and the southwest of the country, are being accused by a section of the society of suppressing information about the case, the internet and social media platforms have been agog with details of outcomes from Chicago courts.
The most recent case was the judgement issued by Justice Nancy Lee Maldonado, 47, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, refused Tinubu’s who ordered Chicago State University (CSU) to release Tinubu’s academic records to Atiku Abubakar by Tuesday, October 3, 2023 unfailingly. Maldonado dismissed Tinubu’s objection, issuing a two-day ultimatum to CSU to release the documents to Atiku.
Justice Maldonado sustained the ruling of US Magistrate Judge, Jeffrey Gilbert, who had earlier ordered the CSU to release Tinubu’s academic records to Atiku as requested, a judgement that Tinubu had appealed.
“For the reasons stated in the Court’s accompanying Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Court overrules President Tinubu’s objections (44) and adopts Judge Gilbert’s recommended decision (40) in full.
“The Court therefore grants Mr. Abubakar’ s application under 28 U.S.C. § 1782. (1),” she ruled. According to Justice Maldonado, CSU must complete all necessary filings regarding the release by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.
The court ruled, “Respondent CSU is directed to produce all relevant and non-privileged documents in response to Requests for Production Nos. 1 through 4 (as narrowed by Judge Gilbert and adopted by the District Court in its opinion) in Mr. Abubakar’s subpoena, by 12:00 p.m. (noon) CDT, on Monday, October 2, 2023.
“The Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of CSU’s corporate designee must be completed by 5:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.”
Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had approached the US District Court in Northern Illinois to compel the CSU, which Tinubu said he attended, and tendered a certificate issued by it to INEC, to release Tinubu’s academic records, arguing that it would boost his (Atiku’s) suit challenging the Tinubu’s election in the February 25 presidential poll.
The PDP candidate had requested the documents for use in Nigerian courts to support his argument that Tinubu forged a certificate he claimed to have obtained from CSU in 1979 and submitted to Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for the 2023 presidential election.
Justice Nancy Lee Maldonado made history on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, when she became the first Hispanic woman to be confirmed by the United States Senate to be a U.S. District Judge, for the Northern District of Illinois.
Thus, when she was sworn in, Maldonado became the first Hispanic woman confirmed by the Senate to serve in the Northern District, which, since created over 200 years ago, has been dominated by white male judges.
Maldonado was confirmed on a 53-45 vote, with two senators not voting. The three Republicans who backed her were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
In June 2022, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Maldonado’s nomination to the Senate floor on a 13-9 vote.
Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-Ill.), the Senate Judiciary Committee chair, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, (D-Ill.), said in a joint statement, “Not only does she have the qualifications, integrity, and judgment to serve with distinction, but she will also bring important demographic diversity to the bench as the first Hispanic woman to serve as an Article III federal judge in the state of Illinois.”
The Article III is a reference to Article III of the Constitution which governs federal judges nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate to spots on the Supreme Court, appellate and district courts.
In a letter dated May 11, 2022, to the Senate Judiciary Committee supporting her candidacy and seeking her confirmation, the Alliance for Justice, (AFJ), a US national association representing more than 130 public interest and civil rights organisations, wrote that Maldonado “has dedicated her career to ensuring that our legal system works for all, not just the wealthy and powerful.” The letter was personally signed by the President of the AFJ, Rakim H. D. Brooks.
President Biden had on April 25, 2022, nominated Nancy Maldonado to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. On July 19, 2022 the US Senate confirmed Maldonado; and, Senate Majority Whip, Dick Durbin (D-Il), who is Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Il), issued the following statement on her confirmation:
“We are pleased that the Senate has confirmed Ms. Maldonado’s nomination to be a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. Not only does she have the qualifications, integrity, and judgment to serve with distinction, but she will also bring important demographic diversity to the bench as the first Hispanic woman to serve as an Article III federal judge in the state of Illinois.”
Maldonado is a labour and employment attorney who has dedicated her career to representing workers. A partner at leading civil rights firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., she has litigated extensively in the Northern District. She would be the first Latina to serve as a federal judge in the state of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit, which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
Maldonado was born on November 28, 1975, in Skokie, Illinois to parents who had migrated from Puerto Rico. She graduated from Harvard College cum laude in 1997, where she was on the Dean’s List all four years. Before law school, she was a paralegal at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., a small civil rights firm where she is currently a partner. She earned a J.D. (Juris Doctor) from Columbia Law School in 2001. At Columbia, she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and served on the editorial board of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review.
She also completed internships at Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos, a Peruvian human rights organisation, and interned at top law firms such as Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. After law school, Ms. Maldonado completed a clerkship with Judge Rubén Castillo of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Legal Experience
After her clerkship, Ms. Maldonado returned to Miner, Barnhill & Garland, P.C. as an Associate in 2003. Ms. Maldonado was then promoted to Partner in 2010. Her work at the firm, detailed below, has largely been in federal court and has focused on representing plaintiffs in labour and employment, civil rights, and fraud cases.
While practicing at Miner, Barnhill & Garland, P.C., Ms. Maldonado also served in state government. For example, in 2019, Governor J.B. Pritzker appointed her to the Illinois State Police Merit Board; the Board selects state police officers through a fair and equitable process and is responsible for the promotion and discipline of these officers. More recently, in 2021, the Illinois Attorney General appointed her to serve as a Special Assistant Attorney General investigating consumer fraud. Ms. Maldonado has also been selected to serve as a monitor of numerous consent decrees resolving employment cases brought by the Illinois Attorney General.
Civil Rights
Ms. Maldonado has litigated a wide range of civil rights cases outside of the employment context. She has protected First Amendment rights, challenged racially discriminatory policies, and defended reproductive rights. For example, in Brighton Park Neighbourhood Council v. Berrios, she represented three community organizations that alleged that the Cook County Assessor discriminated against Black and Latinx property owners by illegally shifting property tax burdens from white property owners to Black and Latinx property owners. The organizations brought claims under the Fourteenth Amendment, Fair Housing Act, and state law. After the suit was filed, a new Cook County Assessor was elected, leading to reforms and the ultimate voluntary dismissal of the claims.
In Vergara v. City of Waukegan, Ms. Maldonado represented residents of the City of Waukegan who sued their city for violations of the First Amendment. The residents claimed that their First Amendment rights were violated because of their opposition to a City ordinance, they were denied entrance to a city council meeting, retaliated against, and prevented from gathering. The Northern District of Illinois granted summary judgement to two plaintiffs and denied the City officials’ claims of qualified immunity. After the Seventh Circuit affirmed the lower court decision, the parties settled.
Labour and Employment
Ms. Maldonado’s largest practice area is plaintiff-side labour and employment. She has represented a wide range of plaintiffs, including pipefitters, doctors, bricklayers, drivers, and farmworkers.
Ms. Maldonado has represented many individuals in employment discrimination cases. For example, in Abreu v. City of Chicago, Ms. Maldonado represents a Puerto Rican bricklayer who faced severe discrimination at work when a supervisor called him racial slurs and tried to push him into a six-foot hole on a jobsite. Mr. Abreu brought claims under Title VII, the Fourteenth Amendment, and state law. The case is still pending with a trial set for June 2022. In Butler v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co., Ms. Maldonado represented a customer service phone operator who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and denied protection under the Family Medical Leave Act. Under her representation, the judge declined the defendant’s efforts to dismiss the case early in the litigation.
In Stuart v. Local 727, Ms. Maldonado represented Ms. Stuart, who sued her union under Title VII, alleging sex discrimination. Ms. Stuart claimed that because of her sex, the union failed to refer her for driving jobs on television and movie sets. Drivers on television and movie sets made about twice the wage of other bus drivers, but a woman had never been referred to perform any of those jobs. The case was initially thrown out by the district court, but Ms. Maldonado persuaded the Seventh Circuit to reverse the dismissal (the panel also reassigned the case, citing the district judge’s “unmistakable . . . tone of derision”). The parties ultimately settled.
Ms. Maldonado also has significant class action experience. In Ortega v. Leslie Farms, she represented migrant farmworkers in a class action lawsuit. The workers claimed that, among other things, their employers violated state labour law by failing to pay overtime wages and provide mandatory breaks; following discovery, the parties settled the case. In Hernandez v. Kovacevich, Ms. Maldonado represented seasonal farmworkers who worked at fruit farms. The workers claimed that their employers violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and state law by requiring them to perform unpaid, off-the-clock work before the start of their shifts. After class certification, the parties settled and class members received significant compensation.
Professional Activities and Accolades
Ms. Maldonado has done significant community work. She has served on the Board of Directors of La Casa Norte, an organisation that serves homeless youth and families; Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights; and Apna Ghar (Our Home), a gender justice organisation. Ms. Maldonado also founded the non-profit Chicago Yoga Project, an organisation aimed at promoting non-violence through yoga classes and teacher training.
Ms. Maldonado has received numerous awards including Mentor of the Year, Hispanic Lawyers’ Association of Illinois; Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow, Harvard Law School; and Notable Minority Lawyer by Crain’s Chicago Business.
The report was written by Mkpe Abang with additional information sourced from Alliance for Justice website (afj.org); Chicago Sun Times website (chicago.suntimes.com) and Wikipedia website (wikipedia.com).