Ben Ruddell is the Director of Criminal Justice Policy with the ACLU of Illinois. He is responsible for drafting and analyzing criminal justice legislation and lobbying in the Illinois General Assembly. Ben joined the ACLU of Illinois in April 2015 after more than seven years in the office of the Illinois House Minority Leader, during which time he held the position of Deputy Legal Counsel and staffed the Judiciary and Criminal Law Committees. Prior to his work in the legislature, Ben practiced law in Chicago. Ben is originally from Peoria, Illinois. He graduated from the University of California-Berkeley with a degree in political science and received his JD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He lives in Chicago and is a member of the Illinois Bar.