March 17, 2026
By Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr. | Published in Inquest
One of the fundamental injustices of the U.S. criminal legal system is that who ends up in court has more to do with how much money they have in their pocket than almost anything else. Across the country, the vast majority of people who find themselves being arrested and prosecuted are poor.
The following op-ed was published in the Chicago Tribune on October 11, 2023.
February 9, 2023
Every day, attorneys from the Cook County public defender’s office represent children who are ordered released from the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center but are stuck there because the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has failed to find them a home.
July 14, 2022
This piece was published in the Chicago Tribune on July 13, 2022. Read this article on the Chicago Tribune website here.
By Assistant Public Defenders Margaret Armalas and Megan Tomlinson
April 7, 2022
This Op-Ed was published in the Chicago Sun-Times, read this article on the Sun-Times website here.
January 19, 2022
This Op-Ed was published in the Chicago Sun-Times, read it on the Sun-Times website here.
Gun violence is Chicago’s greatest challenge, causing untold hurt and harm.
November 12, 2021
This Op-Ed was first published in The Nation, read the full article on their website here.
July 16, 2021
This Op Ed was published in Teen Vogue, in coordination with Zealous, an organization working to amplify the perspective of public defenders. You can read the full editorial here.
