Cook County Public Defender’s Office

We protect the fundamental rights, liberties and dignity of each person whose case has been entrusted to us by providing the finest legal representation.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

Our final bill passed! HB5020 enacts common-sense procedural protections for children given adult sentences through extended jurisdiction juvenile (EJJ) sentencing.

Thanks to bill sponsors @StateRepVella, @SenatorFine, & @senpetersil!

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

This important bill will standardize access to sentencing credit across the state and improve public safety.

This bill was a joint effort of our office along with the DuPage County Public Defender's Office, @asjpolicy, @JHAofIllinois , & @the_wji.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

Our bill to ensure people who complete programming in county jails can then access sentence credit passed! Thanks to @senatorellman, @NormaHndezIL, @RepSlaughter, @staterep46, and @RepStava_Murray for their leadership on this legislation.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

@BlockClubCHI takes another look at an Illinois State Police trooper who is accused of repeatedly using dishonest practices to arrest people for DUIs. Attorneys in our office found inconsistencies, including copied and pasted statements, in ISP Trooper Bradley’s police reports.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

🎉We're celebrating another legislative win for greater equity in IL's legal system. HB4217 will give public defender's offices the opportunity to represent clients in statutory summary suspension (SSS) hearings when they are already representing that client in a traffic case.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

Our clients who are detained by ICE or deported cannot control if they can access court hearings. Now these clients are subject to warrants for "failure to appear." Warrants effect their opportunities to reunite w/family and access other legal remedies.
https://t.co/nhWmlEiBiQ

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

We thank the bill’s sponsors Senate Majority Leader, Kimberly A. Lightford (@LLCoolK_4) and Representative Mary Beth Canty (@RepMBC) for your leadership!

Congratulations to the Family Justice Resource Center who led this effort for the past several years.
https://t.co/wRzvLTfcvk

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

The Protecting Innocent Families Act (HB 3169) passed and will be sent to Governor J.B. Pritzker for his signature! This bill is a major win for families that will provide enhanced transparency and procedural safeguards if parents become involved in DCFS investigations.

[Heartland Signal @HeartlandSignal]

Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell tells WCPT’s Richard Chew he wants the justice system to focus on helping people, not cycling them back through it.

"I would love the criminal legal system to be a place where we look at somebody's issues that they have, and try to give them the things they need and not be so mad at them, but be focused on the idea that we know that they're coming back and that it's our goal to do all that we can to make sure that they don't."

[Heartland Signal @HeartlandSignal]

Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell tells WCPT’s Richard Chew his office is committed to fighting the uphill battle of public defense.

“So to work around hundreds and hundreds of people like that, it's not so lonely and it's not so hard. And just knowing that you're doing the right thing, knowing that you are speaking up for a person that may not have somebody to speak up for them, and they may have never had somebody to speak up for them, and that you're just trying to tell their story and there's going to be a judge that decides what happens. And, sometimes that's that's just all you need to continue to work.”

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

🔗 Read and watch the full story: https://t.co/b59egPPwpT

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

Two Defenders spoke to ABC7’s I-Team about findings that led them to believe an IL State Police trooper repeatedly used dishonest practices to increase his DUI arrests—inflating his reputation and salary. They have called for the State to investigate ISP Trooper Kevin Bradley.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

Blanket policies that require prosecutors to seek detention based on charge alone undermine the law by removing individualization and discretion—essential elements of fairness and good decision-making. Defaulting to more detention in more cases makes our communities less safe.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

The Pretrial Fairness Act is designed to protect the constitutional rights of all accused people by ensuring everyone receives a robust, individualized hearing before their liberty can be taken away.

https://t.co/VOmpnjGTdL

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

Legal representation makes a significant difference in case outcomes for immigrant clients. Thanks to the @verainstitute for conducting this independent evaluation.

Read the full report here: https://t.co/pQQyPq44wk

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

We are proud to be part of the Midwest Immigrant Defenders Alliance (MIDA), a collaborative deportation defense program in partnership with @NIJC, The Immigration Project, @TRPistas, @eriehouse, @MICAprojectSTL, and @ChildrenLglCntr.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

@TRPistas @verainstitute @TheImmProj And thanks to @Borderless_Mag for covering our work!
Read the full story here: https://t.co/nkZrUfavYK

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

Our immigration division is on track to become the largest provider of legal services to detained individuals in the region.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

For the immigrants we represent, the stakes could not be higher. legal representation can determine whether someone in detention is deported or reunited with their loved ones and community.

Thanks to our partners @TRPistas, @verainstitute, @theimmproj, and NIJC.

[Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender]

The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender stands in solidarity with San Francisco Chief Public Defender Mano Raju Following Contempt Charge