Balancing the Cook County Budget Without Sacrificing Justice

An E-Alert from the Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice

7 February 2007

The criminal justice system in Cook County maintains a delicate balance between trying to abide by due process of law and dealing with caseloads that go well beyond national standards for both Assistant Public Defenders and Assistant State’s Attorneys. The felony courts alone process 32,000 cases per year. The courts, the jail, the prosecutors, and the public defenders are overwhelmed, and proposed budget cuts now threaten a complete breakdown. By under funding an already overwhelmed system, the Cook County Board increases the chances for mistakes – increasing the possibility that guilty persons will be set free and innocent persons will be wrongly convicted.

Caseloads per attorney will skyrocket, making Cook County a target for legal action. Training of prosecutors and defense counsel will be eliminated, making the system more inefficient. Critical diversion programs operated through the prosecutor’s office which keep people from doing expensive jail time will be eliminated. By reducing the budget of the Sheriff, a resulting decrease in courtroom security threatens the physical safety of all those participating in the criminal justice system. In addition, the policy of reducing the paid workweek of assistant Public Defenders raises ethical concerns relating to whether this hobbled office will be able to provide effective assistance of counsel.

The actions of the Cook County Board are akin to using a meat cleaver to do the work of a surgical scalpel. Eliminating unneeded expenditures from a county budget is an admirable goal. There are better ways to do it than across the board cuts of personnel and programs. The proposed cuts will destroy the delicate balance that allows the Cook County criminal justice system to function. We need reforms that take into account efficiencies and due process.

The Chicago Council of Lawyers and the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice call for the creation of a task force comprised of judges, legislators, prosecutors, defense counsel, and representatives of the sheriff’s office, the clerk’s office, and representatives of other court personnel. This task force will consider in a timely fashion all of the related factors and make recommendations as to how budget cuts can be made without inappropriately hurting the participants comprising the system and the defendants, victims, and witnesses that it is designed to serve.
 

Malcolm C. Rich, Executive Director
Chicago Council of Lawyers
Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice

Carrie K. Huff, President, Board of Governors
Chicago Council of Lawyers

Mary E. Anderson, President, Board of Directors
Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice