Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

We protect the fundamental rights, liberties and dignity of each person whose case has been entrusted to us by providing the finest legal representation. cookcountypublicdefender.org 69 W Washington St., Chicago Joined September 2019

Tweets

1K
Followers

2K
Following

904
Likes

518

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

a week ago

Our office was proud to join Craig Futterman (Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at University of Chicago) & his students who developed & filed an amicus brief to the IL Supreme Court in June, advocating for transparent, public proceedings for officers accused of serious misconduct.

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

a week ago

Today the IL Supreme Court is holding oral arguments in the case that has frozen the system Chicago officials used for decades to hold police officers accused of egregious misconduct accountable. WTTW provides an update. Full story available at cookcountypublicdefender.org/links

0 1 1 256 0

1 0 2 196 2

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

a week ago

0 1 1 256 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

a week ago

The Illinois Supreme Court has opened applications for the first State Public Defender. Attorneys licensed in IL who are experienced and visionary are encouraged to apply. This is an opportunity to build and lead our new statewide public defense system. illinoiscourts.gov/605/Illinois-i…

0 0 2 114 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

3 weeks ago

The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board published commentary with serious inaccuracies about pretrial home confinement and electronic monitoring in IL. These inaccuracies misrepresent the realities of pretrial release & electronic monitoring. We want to set the record straight.

1 1 3 147 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

2 months ago

Congratulations to Timothy C. Evans on his appointment to the First District Appellate Court! In his time as Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Evans created greater equity in the court system by increasing access to counsel and transforming the pretrial system.

0 0 1 866 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

3 months ago

In this episode, Dorothy shares what abolition means to her, dives into the racist beginnings of the child welfare system, and discusses how the system continues to disproportionately harm Black families. Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts: cookcountypublicdefender.org/links

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

3 months ago

🎧Tune in for a fascinating conversation with @DorothyERoberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law & Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of numerous books about race in the United States and our country's child welfare system.

0 0 2 472 0

0 2 2 331 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

3 months ago

0 0 2 472 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

3 months ago

We are thrilled to celebrate the first effective date of the FAIR Act today, July 1st! Our office was proud to work with public defenders across the state through the Illinois Public Defender Association and community advocates to help pass Public Act 104-0300 in spring 2025.

0 2 0 160 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

3 months ago

Out of the courthouse and into community! Proud Defenders today and everyday!

0 0 2 108 0

View Details

Pilsen Neighbors @pilsenneighbors

3 months ago

Registration for the 15th Driver’s License Reinstatement Expo is open! If you or someone you know are seeking to restore their driving privileges, mark your calendars for September 12, 2026 at Malcolm X College. Register at pilsenneigbors.org/dlre or scan the QR code

0 1 0 234 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

4 months ago

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!

0 0 1 109 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

4 months ago

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.

0 2 2 87 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

4 months ago

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.

1 2 6 294 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

4 months ago

@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.

0 0 0 106 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

4 months ago

🎉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.

0 0 0 84 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

4 months ago

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. injusticewatch.org/criminal-court…

0 0 0 71 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

4 months ago

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. famjustice.org/protecting-inn…

0 0 0 85 0

View Details

Cook County Public Defender’s Office @CookCoDefender

4 months ago

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.

1 0 1 154 0

View Details

Heartland Signal @HeartlandSignal

4 months ago

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."

2 3 4 1K 0

View Details

Heartland Signal @HeartlandSignal

4 months ago

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.”