{{Short description|American judge (1937–2024)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Harry Leinenweber | honorific_suffix = | image = Harry D. Leinenweber, U.S. District Court Judge.jpg | alt = | caption = | office = Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | term_start = June 3, 2002 | term_end = June 11, 2024 | office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | term_start1 = December 17, 1985 | term_end1 = June 3, 2002 | appointer1 = Ronald Reagan | predecessor1 = ''Seat est. by 98 Stat. 333'' | successor1 = Mark Filip | state_house2 = Illinois | district2 = 42nd | alongside2 = W. Robert Blair, George Sangmeister, LeRoy Van Duyne, Jack Davis | term_start2 = January 1973 | term_end2 = January 1983 | predecessor2 = James R. Washburn<br>Thomas R. Houde<br>C. R. "Russ" Hamilton | successor2 = Suzanne Deuchler | pronunciation = | birth_name = Harry Daniel Leinenweber | birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|06|03}} | birth_place = Joliet, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|6|11|1937|6|3}} | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = Republican | other_party = | height = | spouse = {{Marriage|Lynn M. Martin|January 7, 1987}} | partner = | relations = | children = 5 | education = {{nowrap|University of Notre Dame (BA)}}<br>University of Chicago (JD) <!--Embedded templates / Footnotes-->| footnotes = }}
'''Harry Daniel Leinenweber''' (June 3, 1937 – June 11, 2024) was an American jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
==Education and career== Leinenweber was born in Joliet, Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1959 and a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1962. He was in private practice in Joliet from 1962 to 1986. He was a city attorney of Joliet from 1963 to 1967. He was a special prosecutor in Will County, Illinois from 1968 to 1970. He was a special counsel for the Village of Bolingbrook, Illinois, from 1975 to 1977. He was a special counsel for Will County Forest Preserve, Illinois in 1977. He was a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1973 to 1983.<ref name="fjc.gov">{{FJC Bio|nid=1383791|inline=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/bb/id/35554/rec/64|title = 'Illinois Blue Book 1981-1982,' Biographical Sketch of Harry D. Leinenweber, pg. 152}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Campaigns - Candidate - Harry D. Leinenweber |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=77853 |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=www.ourcampaigns.com}}</ref>
===Federal judicial service=== Leinenweber was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on November 7, 1985, to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 16, 1985, and received his commission on December 17, 1985. He assumed senior status on June 3, 2002.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>
In 1998, Leinenweber sentenced Larry Hoover, a leader of the Gangster Disciples, to multiple concurrent life terms on federal charges for directing a criminal enterprise from prison while serving a sentence for an Illinois murder conviction.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Unknown |title=Judge throws book at gang chief Hoover |work=Chicago Tribune |date=June 19, 1998 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/06/19/judge-throws-book-at-gang-chief-hoover/}}</ref> In 2021, Leinenweber denied Hoover’s motion for a sentence reduction under the First Step Act,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Seidel |first1=Jon |title=Gangster Disciples co-founder Larry Hoover denied sentencing break he sought under First Step Act |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=July 6, 2021 |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/7/6/21408777/gangster-disciples-larry-hoover-first-step-act-prison-term-reduced-chicago-gangs}}</ref> and on May 28, 2025, Hoover’s federal life sentences were commuted by President Donald Trump, following public advocacy for clemency by several figures, including musician Kanye West.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Larry Hoover Jr. Thanks Kanye West After His Father's Sentence Is Commuted |magazine=Billboard |date=May 29, 2025 |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/larry-hoover-jr-thanks-kanye-west-dad-commuted-sentence-1235983915/}}</ref>
In January 2013, Leinenweber sentenced DEA informant David Headley to serve 35 years for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and the plot against Danish media outlet Jyllands-Posten for the publication of cartoons of Muhammad.<ref name="SweeneySentence">{{cite news |last=Sweeney |first=Annie |date=January 24, 2013 |title=Chicago man gets 35 years in Mumbai terror attack |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-sentencing-today-for-chicago-man-in-mumbai-terror-attack-20130124,0,3301876.story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124183315/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-sentencing-today-for-chicago-man-in-mumbai-terror-attack-20130124,0,3301876.story |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |access-date=January 24, 2013 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> During the sentencing, Leinenweber called Headley a terrorist and said he hoped he would die in prison, telling him he deserved to be executed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chicago man pleads guilty to terror plots |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/18/headley.plea/index.html |access-date=August 4, 2024 |publisher=CNN}}</ref>
In 2017, Leinenweber issued a nationwide injunction barring the Trump administration from enforcing its policy regarding so-called sanctuary cities, ruling in favor of the City of Chicago in its suit against Attorney General Jeff Sessions after finding that the policy violated the separation of powers doctrine by intruding on Congress’s authority.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Federal Court Blocks Trump Crackdown on Sanctuary Cities |magazine=The Atlantic |date=September 15, 2017 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/federal-court-blocks-trump-crackdown-on-sanctuary-cities/540072/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Judge blocks Justice Department move against sanctuary cities |work=Politico |date=September 15, 2017 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/15/judge-blocks-justice-department-move-against-sanctuary-cities-242783}}</ref>
In 2022, Leinenweber presided over R. Kelly's sexual abuse trial in Northern Illinois. At the time of his death, he had been presiding over the ComEd corruption trial involving Anne Pramaggiore, which he had placed on hold in early 2024.<ref name=giant/>
==Personal life== Leinenweber married Representative Lynn M. Martin in Washington, D.C., on January 7, 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-congresswoman-marr/149712110/ |title=Congresswoman Marries Judge |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |place=Washington |agency=AP |page=1 |date=1987-01-07 |access-date=2024-06-20 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Death== Leinenweber died of lung cancer at his Gold Coast home, in Chicago, on June 11, 2024, at the age of 87.<ref name=giant>{{cite web |last1=Sneed |first1=Michael |last2=Seidel |first2=John |title=Judicial giant Harry D. Leinenweber dies at 87: 'He understands ordinary people and has great common sense' |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/front-page/2024/06/11/judicial-giant-harry-d-leinenweber-dies-at-87-he-understands-ordinary-people-and-has-great-common-sense |website=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=June 11, 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * {{FJC Bio|nid=1383791}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-il-hs}} {{s-bef|before=James R. Washburn<br>Thomas R. Houde<br>C. R. "Russ" Hamilton}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the Illinois House of Representatives<br>from the 42nd district|years=1973–1983|alongside=W. Robert Blair, George Sangmeister, LeRoy Van Duyne, Jack Davis}} {{s-aft|after=Suzanne Deuchler (redistrcting)}} |- {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Seat established by 98 Stat. 333}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois}}|years=1985–2002}} {{s-aft|after=Mark Filip}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leinenweber, Harry}} Category:1937 births Category:2024 deaths Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:21st-century American judges Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Illinois Category:Illinois lawyers Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Category:Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Category:People from Joliet, Illinois Category:United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Category:University of Chicago Law School alumni Category:University of Notre Dame alumni Category:20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly