Carla Barnes

Children are supposed to have a childhood. In some ways Carla Barnes-Wheeler did not. Her father was absent. Her mother struggled with mental illness. Friend and Bloomington-Normal NAACP President Linda Foster said Barnes-Wheeler, the youngest of four children grew up in a poor area of Chicago Heights.

A longtime public defender in McLean County is the new head of the office. Ron Lewis has been appointed, said Chief Circuit Judge Mark Fellheimer.Lewis…

When Carla Barnes closed a black robe around her shoulders for the first time on Thursday, she marked history as the first Black judge in the 11th…

McLean County Public Defender Carla Barnes has been appointed as the first Black woman to serve as a circuit judge in Illinois’ 11th Judicial…

The wheels of justice are turning at a slower pace in McLean County as police, judges and attorneys navigate the legal system during the coronavirus…

When gunfire erupts in Bloomington-Normal, odds are good that Andrew Held will receive a call to help with the aftermath.With 50 shootings reported…

A New York Times report shed new light on overworked and underfunded public defenders. It found public defenders in Louisiana assigned 200, 300, or even…