Ralph Eugene Meczyk (born 1950) is an American attorney and judge serving on the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois. Appointed to the bench in January 2024 and elected later that year, he previously spent more than four decades as a criminal defense lawyer in Chicago, where he handled numerous high-profile cases, including appearances before the United States Supreme Court.
Earlier in his career, Meczyk was convicted in a federal tax-fraud case arising from Operation Greylord, for which he later received a presidential pardon.
As a judge, he drew public scrutiny in 2025 after a defendant whose release conditions he modified was later charged in a widely publicized violent attack on Chicago’s CTA Blue Line.
Meczyk was born at Mount Sinai Hospital on the West Side of Chicago. His parents were Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the United States in 1949; his father Norman was liberated from Dachau concentration camp and his mother from Bergen-Belsen. Meczyk has described his father’s deep commitment to being a good citizen as profoundly influential in his life. [1] [2]
Meczyk received his Juris Doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1977 and was admitted to the Illinois Bar the same year. [3] [4] [5] He served in the Illinois Army National Guard from 1970 to 1976. [6]
After graduating from law school, Meczyk worked as an Assistant Public Defender in Cook County from 1977 to 1982. He then established the law firm Ralph E. Meczyk & Associates, where he practiced criminal defense for over four decades. [3] [6]
Prior to his judicial appointment, Meczyk was a prominent criminal defense attorney in Chicago for over four decades, known for handling high-profile murder cases and arguing before the United States Supreme Court. [3] [7]
Meczyk handled more than 130 jury trials and 400 bench trials in state and federal courts. He was certified by the Illinois Supreme Court as lead counsel in death penalty cases, a designation granted to attorneys qualified to represent defendants in capital cases. [3] [4] [7]
In 1987, Meczyk pleaded guilty to federal income tax fraud related to unreported income from cashed bond-refund checks. He served a prison sentence in the 1980s as a result of the conviction. Meczyk admitted to receiving $35,800 in unreported income with his law partner. According to prosecutors, he failed to pay taxes on bond-refund checks issued by the Cook County Circuit Clerk’s office, an amount equivalent to approximately $141,000 in today’s dollars. [8]
Meczyk’s conviction was part of Operation Greylord, a federal investigation into corruption in the Cook County court system. The probe led to 103 convictions, including his. [8]
Meczyk received a censure from Illinois state licensing authorities in 1988 but retained his law license and continued practicing criminal defense law. [6]
In December 2000, President Bill Clinton granted Meczyk a presidential pardon. Records show Meczyk had donated $500 to Clinton’s legal defense fund in 1995, five years prior to receiving the pardon. [8]
In November 2025, Meczyk faced public criticism following a violent incident on Chicago’s CTA Blue Line. While serving as a judge, Meczyk had modified the electronic monitoring conditions for Lawrence Reed, who was charged with aggravated battery for attacking a psychiatric social worker. Reed had initially been released on electronic monitoring in August 2024 by Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez, despite objections from prosecutors. [9] [10]
Meczyk modified Reed’s electronic monitoring conditions to allow additional hours outside his home for church activities on Tuesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. [9] [10] On November 18, 2025, Reed allegedly set a 26-year-old woman on fire aboard a CTA Blue Line train, causing life-threatening injuries. He was later charged with federal terrorism offenses. [10] [11] The incident led to public criticism of the Cook County criminal justice system and the decisions made by both judges involved in Reed’s pretrial release. [9]