FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Fiona Ortiz, Deputy of Communications
fiona.ortiz@cookcountyil.gov
312-505-7476
Cook County Public Defender's Office thrilled that SB424 and SB1886 are signed into law
News
The Cook County Public Defender’s Office is pleased that the Illinois Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Pretrial Fairness Act. Illinois can now end a great injustice that distorted the criminal legal system and move forward with removing the price tag from the presumption of innocence.
The Cook County Public Defender's Office is featured in a short film about violence interruption.
Mitigation Specialists play a key role in public defense, advocating for a fair sentence by putting together a thorough report on the person’s life story. This is important because when a person comes before a judge for sentencing, the court is often aware of only a sliver of their circumstances.
The Chicago Tribune published this commentary on Feb. 8, 2023.
Children who are in juvenile jail because DCFS can’t find them a home are being harmed
By Andrea Lubelfeld
The Cook County Public Defender’s Office mourns the tragic death of Tyre Nichols. Tyre deserved to live a full and beautiful life. Instead, another young Black person’s family is coping with the reality that the individuals entrusted to serve and protect us all took their loved one’s life in a savage fashion.
We recognize the traumatic impact that Tyre’s murder has on our public defender family, our clients and our wider communities. We support the need to share grief and address this impact.
For Immediate Release
January 26, 2023
Contact
Fiona Ortiz
fiona.ortiz@cookcountyil.gov | (312) 603-0720
Chicago, IL - The Illinois Supreme Court today issued an order suspending implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act while it reviews a lower court opinion that found the law unconstitutional.
The Cook County Public Defender’s Office is disappointed that this historic and transformative law will not take effect as planned tomorrow, Jan. 1.
COOK COUNTY, IL, Dec. 29, 2022 - Last night, a judge in Kankakee County issued an opinion that part of the SAFE-T Act is unconstitutional. The judge’s ruling impacts the Pretrial Fairness Act, the portion of the SAFE-T Act that reforms pretrial release conditions and ends money bond.
CHICAGO, IL, Dec. 28, 2022 – There are few practices in the criminal legal system more abhorrent than using access to wealth to determine whether someone is jailed while awaiting trial.
The use of money bond has always been an affront to several basic Constitutional principles, making a mockery of the presumption of innocence and reducing critical decisions to mere guesswork about what may or may not be in someone’s pocketbook.