Blanche M. Manning

Manning was born in Chicago, Illinois. She received a Bachelor of Education from Chicago Teachers College in 1961, a Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School in 1967, a Master of Arts from Roosevelt University in 1972, and a Master of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1992.

From 1968 to 1973, Manning served as an assistant attorney in the Cook County, Illinois State Attorney's Office. From 1973 to 1977, Manning worked as a supervisory trial attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Chicago. She was also a lecturer at Malcolm X College from 1970 to 1971.

In 1977, Manning began work as a corporate litigation attorney for Chicago-based United Airlines. A year later, Manning transitioned to the role of Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, a role she held from 1978 to 1979. During that same time, Manning was an Adjunct Professor at the National Conference of Black Lawyers Community College of Law. In 1979, she started her judicial career as an Associate Circuit Court Judge in Cook County, where she served until 1986.

Manning was a lead Circuit Judge in the Illinois Cook Judicial Circuit Court from 1986 to 1987. Subsequently, she was a Justice in the Illinois First District Appellate Court of the Illinois Appellate Court from 1987 to 1994. From 1992 to 1994, Manning also worked as an Adjunct Professor at the DePaul University College of Law.

Upon the recommendation of former United States Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Manning was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by President Bill Clinton on May 5, 1994 to a seat vacated by Milton Shadur. Manning was confirmed by the Senate on August 9, 1994, and received her commission on August 10, 1994. On February 1, 2010, Manning assumed senior status. She died on September 20, 2020, aged 85.[2]

Manning is known for sentencing Mark Whitacre, a whistleblower in the Archer Daniels Midland lysine pricefixing case. Mr. Whitacre's sentence was harsher than that of his superiors at the company. The sentence has been spotlighted for deterring future whistleblowers.

Judge Manning presided over Robert E. Kolody vs. Simon Marketing and The Coca-Cola Company, No. 97 C 190.

• Blanche M. Manning at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Coca-Karma: The Very Secret Battle of Bob Kolody vs. Coca-Cola at the Wayback Machine (archived April 5, 2004)