Conditions in Illinois courts have resulted in people being denied their rights. A new bill would create a better public defense system.
Senate President Don Harmon departs after Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivered his State of the State and budget address before the General Assembly at the Illinois Capitol on Feb. 21, 2024.
A 2021 report on Illinois public defense funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and commissioned by the Illinois Supreme Court is clear: Current conditions have resulted in people being denied their rights.
While every county has a full-time state’s attorney, in 60% of Illinois counties, there is no full-time county public defender. Instead, in those counties, judges appoint local private practice attorneys using flat-fee contracts, which the American Bar Association says are unacceptable because they “reward counsel for doing as little work as possible.” In rural areas, one attorney may be responsible for the defense work in multiple counties at once.
“With our increased emphasis on a fair criminal justice system, it’s critical that defendants who can’t afford counsel have access to a public defender,”in the Tribune last month. He said his goal was to promote further negotiations with criminal justice reform advocates and to pass legislation by the end of the session on May 24.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Illinois leads the U.S. in wrongful convictions. But these cases, terrible as they are, are the tip of the iceberg, illustrating a much more sizable threat lurking below the surface. Illinois has, for too long, failed to safeguard the rights of people accused of a crime, regardless of their access to money. The new pretrial system that launched with the SAFE-T Act was a critical step toward addressing this problem.
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