Congratulations on ViaTimes 37th Anniversary

Congratulations! You have weathered whatever storms passed your way as you journey through this very competitive type of venture you’ve chosen! You’ve done it, Lady!

— Lu Ramos-Halloran Happy anniversary Viatimes and its founder!

Congratulations on all the interesting articles we read all these years.

A million thanks to veronica and her staff members who labored so hard to meet the deadline to make the best news magazine jn Chicago. Illinois!!!

May almighty God bless Viatimes. Always.

— Jose Banez

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Dear Editor,

The Dems just can’t handle the way that U.S. history went down. Not all groups were equally portrayed – and that’s because not all groups were even present. The U.S. history has a bit of a racist past, admittedly. However, it still has to be taught.

Not in Chicago, though. They want to live in denial. And through that denial, they’d rather cancel history in the classroom until they figure out how they want to rewrite it so that it’s “less racist.”

Fighting for Freedom,

Sarah Taylor

(American Retirement Insider)

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Hi Veronica,

I hope you are well.

I wanted to reach out to you in regard to the latest news that “Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft organization, has supported more than 60,000 cleft surgeries in the Philippines since its first program opened in 2001.”

Please let me know if you are interested in learning more. We look forward to spreading the word about FREE global cleft surgeries from Smile Train with your help.

Milena Pyra

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ARDC Strives For Legal Profession Devoid of Racism

Dear Mr. Mauricio,

The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission is charged by the Illinois Supreme Court with investigating and prosecuting misconduct by lawyers, and as such has a unique and significant responsibility for assuring that the legal system achieves its goal of equal justice for all citizens. The killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and other Black Americans by both law enforcement officers and others, bring into sharp focus the fears and injustices that continue to devastate people of color in our country.

In 2015, the ARDC appointed a Diversity and Inclusion leader, and we have addressed the equity of our internal processes and procedures. We will leverage our ongoing D&I initiatives in further identifying and addressing any bias within our agency and in our undertakings.

The ARDC commits to use its regulatory authority to engage and educate members of the legal profession on addressing and eschewing racism, including implicit bias. We commit to holding the legal profession accountable for protecting the rule of law and making the justice system available to and equitable for all members of our communities.

Further, the ARDC commits to an ongoing focus and action on this issue and to transparency. We will provide regular reports of our D&I efforts, regulatory and educational initiatives and analysis of public data from our disciplinary caseload. Our annual reports will contain a comprehensive discussion of our yearly efforts. We will provide information to the Illinois Supreme Court, the profession and the public to fairly gauge and hold the ARDC accountable.

Simply put, there is no place in our profession for those who cannot practice without discrimination based upon a person’s color. We recommit ourselves to creating and maintaining a disciplinary system that identifies and holds attorneys responsible for conduct that includes racial bias, inequity or intolerance.

Jerome E. Larkin

ARDC Administrator

Lea S. Gutierrez

ARDC Director of Diversity and Inclusion