Illinois abolished cash bail and drove down the population at the Cook County jail. Under the county’s top prosecutor, it’s rising again.
2026 News Archive
The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender was proud to be part of the Midwest Immigrant Defenders Alliance (MIDA), a collaborative deportation defense program in partnership with the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), The Immigration Project, The Resurrection Project, Erie Neighborhood House, The MICA Project, and Children's Legal Center. The Vera Institute conducted an independent evaluation of how legal representation can have an immense impact on outcomes in immigration proceedings.
The Cook County public defender’s office had already laid the groundwork to represent individuals in immigration cases, but an increase in detention under the Trump administration last year forced them to adjust.
Assistant Public Defender Sam Goldberg spoke in support of a proposed change to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 307 that would allow interlocutory appeals of a trial court’s decision to transfer a child’s case to an adult criminal court.
The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender's Office, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Illinois Senator Graciela Guzmán, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, and other partners held a press conference to condemn the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents violating state law and arresting individuals at a courthouse in Chicago. Various news agencies and outlets covered the Press Conference.
As a young frontline public defender in the courtroom, Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr., often imagined how the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender could better serve its constituents. Now, as the agency’s head, he’s realizing that vision.
A pair of Illinois bills seeks to clarify the language in that statute, aiming to ensure that after program completion, judges can issue sentence credit, whether it was completed in a state prison or a county jail.
Resource-strapped public defenders can usually only provide direct client services. Meanwhile, police and prosecutors get to lobby for legislative changes. In Illinois, we are upending that status quo.
The MacArthur Justice Center and Legal Action Chicago sought leave to file an amicus brief on behalf of fifteen advocacy, social services, and direct legal services groups, including the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender in support of the Court Access, Safety, and Participation Act (CASPA), an Illinois law being challenged in federal court by the Trump Administration in the case USA v. Illinois.
Keshia Golden says she fatally stabbed Calvin Sidney in 2022 when he attacked her after their baby shower. Now a mother to a 3-year-old, Golden still faces murder charges in a case her lawyers argue amounts to self-defense.