A Cook County judge for 20 years, Saul A. Epton made his mark in the now-defunct Boys Court branch, often defying convention by requiring that a convicted boy’s parents donate money to boys clubs or having the boys themselves take the bench and sentence their fellow defendants.
Mr. Epton, 91, died Friday, Sept. 7, of pneumonia in his home in the Lakeview neighborhood.
A close friend of Gov. George Ryan’s, Mr. Epton was a fixture in the city’s legal circles, presiding over the attempted-murder trial of a member of the Weather Underground, a violent anti-Vietnam War group.
He practiced law until he was 88.
But it was his commitment to wayward youths that Mr. Epton will be remembered for the most, said his grandson Mitchell Prosk.
After becoming a Cook County judge in 1959, Mr. Epton was assigned to Boys Court, a branch separate from Juvenile Court with jurisdiction over male youths between 17 and 20 years old.
“He didn’t want these kids to have a permanent record, so he often sentenced kids to probation,” Prosk said. “But he also would say, `I want your parents to give $300 to the Boys Club, and you do community service.’ His big thing was that everyone is entitled to one mistake.”
James Hobson was a young gang tough when he appeared in Mr. Epton’s Boys Court courtroom 47 times in the 1960s, almost always on charges of mob action or battery.
Mr. Epton was tough on him, Hobson recalled, often sending him to jail.
But when Hobson turned his life around and needed help persuading the military to allow him to join despite his criminal record, Mr. Epton sought and got the needed waivers so Hobson could join.
“I promised him many years ago that if he gave me the opportunity to go into the military, I would prove to him I was worthy of his help,” said Hobson, who became a decorated Vietnam War veteran and now is a Chicago Park District parks supervisor.
In 1969 Mr. Epton was assigned to Cook County Criminal Court and later presided over the trial of Weathermen member Brian Flanagan, accused of causing the injury that paralyzed former Cook County Sheriff Richard Elrod. Flanagan was acquitted by a jury.
Mr. Epton served as campaign manager for his brother Bernard in a losing GOP bid against Mayor Harold Washington in 1983.
Always close with Gov. Ryan, Mr. Epton agreed to issue the oath of office when Ryan was inaugurated as governor.
Mr. Epton also is survived by a daughter, Nancy Prosk; a sister, Elaine Bobins; a brother, Jerry; and another grandson.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in Piser Chapel, 5206 N. Broadway, Chicago. SAUL A. EPTON, 91
