Since 2013 the National Hellenic Museum has a mock trial series that features some of the area’s top attorneys, judges, and celebrity jurors to argue a case based on ancient Greek mythology or history in front of a live audience. In 2023 Socrates was ‘re-tried” on charges of impiety and corruption of the youth of Athens. For The Trial of Socrates, the role of Socrates was played by actor John Kapelos (Breakfast Club, Shape of Water, Umbrella Academy). Few people leave a lasting mark on the world, and Socrates is among that number. The philosopher from Athens is credited as the founder of Western philosophy. He was a Greek philosopher from the 5th century BC, but still today, we use some of his teachings. Socratic questioning is one example of how Socrates lives on. The setting: the year is 399 BC; the city is Athens, troubled again by the political instability that saw the collapse of its maritime empire after nearly 30 years of war with Sparta; the form of government has changed twice in the last 4 years from democracy to an oligarchy of thirty tyrants and back again to an uneasy democracy. The Trial of Socrates will premiere on Lakeshore Public Media’s television broadcast, Lakeshore PBS Friday, May 10, 2024, at 9:00 pm. Regionally Speaking host Dee Dotson is joined by Judge Anna Demacopoulos who retired from the Circuit Court Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Honorable Anna Demacopolous served as one of the distinguished judges for the mock trial.
Lakeshore Public Media’s radio broadcast can be heard on 89.1 FM. Lakeshore PBS broadcasts on channel 56 over the air as well as on DirecTV, Dish Network and AT&T U-verse. Comcast Xfinity viewers can find Lakeshore PBS on channel 17 or 21 while RCN viewers can tune to channel 44. The live broadcast can also be streamed online at https://www.lakeshorepublicmedia.org/or via the free PBS Video App on popular digital platforms.
More information including Lakeshore PBS’ full schedule can be found online at https://www.lakeshorepublicmedia.org/.
About Hon. Anna Demacopolous
Mediator/Arbitrator
In October 2023 Judge Demacopoulos retired from the bench after 38 years of public service and joined JAMS, a global mediation/arbitration firm as a senior mediator. She will be handling commercial business disputes, mass tort class actions, civil rights, privacy data breaches, securities, insurance coverage and various complex multiparty type cases.
Judicial Experience
In 2008, Judge Anna H. Demacopoulos was elected as a Circuit Court Judge in Cook County in the Fifteenth Subcircuit. She served in the prestigious General Chancery Division presiding over complex high profile cases involving requests for temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, release of information under FOIA, mandamus, declaratory judgments, class actions, corporate derivative actions, the constitutionality of statues, and other cases seeking equitable relief. Prior to that she presided over a high volume felony courtroom in the Sixth Municipal District, Markham. She has also presided over domestic violence, misdemeanor and major traffic cases.
Judge Demacopoulos is admired for her fairness, knowledge of the law, impartiality and strong work ethic. Many of her opinions have received local and national news coverage. She has served on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Education and served as a faculty member for the Continuing Education Conference. She was also a topic writer for the Illinois Judicial Bench book on DUI/Traffic and serves as a mentor judge for newly elected judges.
Legal Experience
Prior to her election to the bench Judge Demacopoulos’ professional experience and strong background in law includes over twenty-three years in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s
Office. Throughout her career, she successfully prosecuted some of the county’s most violent criminals and complicated media sensitive cases. In 2008 she received the Illinois State Crime
Commissions Bishop Sheil award for her unprecedented work in the investigation and groundbreaking prosecution of Chicago Police Officers of the Special Operation Section.
For more than fifteen years Judge Demacopoulos served as a Supervisor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’ Office. As the Supervisor of the Narcotic’s Felony Trial Unit she was responsible for the professional development and training of Assistant State’s Attorneys assigned to prosecute complex felony narcotic cases. In this capacity, she created, implemented, and supervised the Repeat Offender and Geographic Urban Enforcement Strategy (ROGUES) program to combat open air drug markets in the Chicago land area and lead the prosecution of the first fentanyl overdose case. She served as the Supervisor of Special Grand Jury/Preliminary Hearings, Deputy Supervisor for the Felony Review Unit, and Deputy Supervisor for the First Municipal District where, in addition to training attorneys, she implemented the first policy for videotaping of confessions and authored the 2 million dollar Targeted Abusers Call (TAC) grant proposal, for the Department of Justice, Violence Against Women’s Office which is still considered a national model.
Nationally, she gained acclaim in the areas of domestic and workplace violence. As a consultant to the United States Department of Justice, she was frequently invited to speak on these critical issues including prevention of gun violence, workplace violence and restorative justice. She is the past president of the Chicago Chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals.
Awards
She is the recipient of multiple awards including an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois Mary Hofelt Hooton Award, Hellenic Bar Association Trailblazer Award, and the Illinois Judge’s Association Libertatum Award. Judge Demacopoulos is a founding and current member the Hellenic American Leadership Council, a member of the Hellenic and Chicago Bar Association, a founding and current President of the Order of Themis, Hellenic Judges Association, and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Hellenic Museum.
Teaching Experience
Since 1987, Judge Demacopoulos has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law in Trial Advocacy at The John Marshall Law School, now UIC Law School.
Educational Background
Judge Demacopoulos graduated from Chicago’s Loyola University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications. She earned her Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in 1985.