Photo of TaShun Bowden-Lewis speaking at the NLADA ACCD conference

Photo of Sharone Mitchell speaking at the NLADA ACCD conference

Photo of Angela Kilpatrick and the Freedom Defense Center of Roseland staff at the NLADA ACCD conference

Thank you also to TaShun Bowden-Lewis, Stephanie Horta and the @nlada.bsky.social team, and the Cook County Public Defenders for developing the program and making this ACCD gathering possible!

Photo of defenders at the NLAD ACCD conference

Photo of defenders at the NLADA ACCD conference

Photo of defenders at the NLADA ACCD conference

Photo of defenders at the NLADA ACCD conference

Thank you to the always-inspiring public defense leaders of ACCD for a wonderful conference! I hope you return home rejuvenated with new ideas to improve your services and systems.

See you in St. Louis this November at the @nlada.bsky.social Annual Conference and in New Orleans at ACCD next year!

Photo of Rachelle Swan speaking on the panel

Swan on perceptions of public defenders vs. private attorneys:

Private attys like to bad-talk PDs to get more work. I tell clients that if you go get a private lawyer, they'll most likely take your money, set a few status dates, withdraw, and you'll be back where you are now but with less money.

Photo of Ashley Greer Shambley speaking on the panel

Shambley on her experience as a Black public defender:

We go back home to the same communities as our clients. We get pulled over all the time like our clients. When I see bodyworn camera footage of a client being pulled out of a car & thrown to the ground, I know that could as easily have been me.

Photo of Theo Thomas speaking at the conference

Thomas explains the Cook County Public Defenders' training of new attorneys, which includes work in the Cook Co. Jail in collaboration with Zealous and Contextos to help clients share their stories and experiences, and at Precious Blood Ministries to talk with community members about what PDs do.

Photo of Ashley Greer Shambley speaking on the panel next to Theo Thomas

Shambley noted the negative narratives about public defenders that clients come to court believing, and her response:

A public defender won't get tired of you and leave. I'm here to defend you when no one else will. I believe in you and you need someone who cares about you doing this work.

Photo of Rachelle Swan and Takenya Nixon speaking on the panel

Swan and Nixon discuss a survey of Cook County community members on public defense. Takeaways included the need for better communication from PDs to combat defender stereotypes, and the lack of uniformity among Black people's perceptions of public safety. "The community wants us to listen to them."

Photo of the panel

Our closing session is "The Future of Community-Oriented Defense: From Courtroom Actor to Community Partner" with Cook County public defenders Angela Kilpatrick, Rachelle Swan, Takenya Nixon, Ashley Greer Shambley (newly elected as a Judge on the Cook County Circuit Court), and Theo Thomas.

Photo of Jon Ervin speaking at the conference

Photo of a projected slide titled "Image Analysis"

Photo of a projected slide titled "Visual search"

Photo of a projected slide with a 50-state map highlighting states where public defenders are using JusticeText

The ACCD program continues with a presentation from Jon Ervin (JusticeText) about use of AI tools in public defense.

Photo of Steven Gates speaking at the Freedom Defense Center of Roseland

Steven Gates (R2C2, Reimagining Roseland Community Collective) spoke on Roseland's history as an economic hub of the Southside, to blight from the war on drugs and mass incarceration, to new growth incl. the FDCR:

We're dreaming again thanks to the work that the Cook Co. Public Defenders are doing.

Photo of Angela Kilpatrick speaking at the Freedom Defense Center of Roseland

We had the pleasure of hearing from the Freedom Defense Center of Roseland's staff, whom Deputy Chief Public Defender Angela Kilpatrick calls "the mighty six."

Photo of the lobby of the Freedom Defense Center of Roseland

Photo of a conference room at the Freedom Defense Center of Roseland

Our morning began with a visit to the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago's Southside for a tour of the Cook County Public Defenders' Freedom Defense Center of Roseland.

More criminal legal systems need community-based public defense spaces like this!

The final day of the @nlada.bsky.social American Council of Chief Defenders' "Defense Reimagined" conference in Chicago is here!

I'll be covering today's activities in this thread. See below for everything our outstanding group of public defenders did at ACCD yesterday.

One of the most brazenly corrupt events in history will take place tomorrow when Jared Kushner represents the U.S. in critical negotiations with Iran to end the war while he accepts millions in fees (and billions in investments) from the Saudi gov’t which has been lobbying Trump to continue the war

Photo of the north face of the Sears Tower as seen from Franklin Street

Looking forward to another day of learning, discussion, and engagement with our chief public defenders as the ACCD conference continues tomorrow morning!

Photo of the ACCD roundtable discussion

Photo of the ACCD roundtable discussion

Our conference day concluded with a roundtable discussion of new developments, challenges, and opportunities that public defenders and their clients are facing around the country.

Photo of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Michael Mrozinski at the NLADA ACCD conference

Photo of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaking with a group including NLADA President & CEO April Frazier Camara, ACCD Chair Danny Engelberg, and the Cook County Public Defenders' Sharlyn Grace at the NLADA ACCD conference

Thank you, President @tonipreckwinkle.bsky.social, for highlighting the outstanding work being done through Cook County's Freedom Defense Centers and the importance of public defenders in ensuring safe and thriving communities!

Overhead photo of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the attendees of the NLADA ACCD conference

President Preckwinkle concluded her remarks by recognizing the geographic breadth of chief public defenders attending the ACCD conference:

Your presence here reflects something powerful: jurisdictions across the country are committed to learning from each other.

Photo of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaking at the NLADA ACCD conference next to Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr.

President Preckwinkle hailed the new dynamic in access to justice embodied by the Cook County Public Defenders' Freedom Defense Centers in Austin and Roseland, noting that "These Centers bring public defense out of distant courtrooms and into the heart of our community."

Photo of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. at the NLADA ACCD conference

President Preckwinkle acknowledged the significance of Illinois's no-cash-bail reform in pursuing justice:

The end of cash bail in Illinois marked a significant shift: pretrial court decisions don't depend on the size of one's wallet, but on an assessment of objective risk.

Photo of Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle speaking at the NLADA ACCD conference

The ACCD conference continued with remarks from Cook County Board of Commissioners President @tonipreckwinkle.bsky.social.

President Preckwinkle lauded chief public defenders for promoting fairness, diginity, and equal access to justice for all, and recognizing the humanity of the people we serve.

Photo of the Aspire Center exterior

Photo of the group being introduced to the Aspire Center

Photo of a "Freedom" mural outside the Freedom Defense Center of Austin offices

Photo of the interior of the Freedom Defense Center of Austin

Our group then visited the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's west side and enjoyed tour of the Cook County Public Defenders' Freedom Defense Center of Austin. Truly amazing work being done here at the FDC & Aspire Center to support the Austin community!

Photo of the ACCD group outside the George N. Leighton Cook County Criminal Courthouse

Photo of the interior of the Cook County Public Defenders' office with a photo of Sharone Mitchell above a quote on the wall: "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but they're must never be a time when we fail to protest. -Elie Wiesel"

Photo of a monitor displaying a slide titled "Detention Requires More Than the Allegations of a Detainable Offense: Three Prong Detention Analysis"

Photo of a framed poster of the Cook County Public Defenders' Core Values

Next we toured the Cook Co. Public Defenders' office at the Leighton Courthouse at 26th & California, and we observed detention hearings to see Illinois's no-cash-bail system in action. Very interesting to see arguments on release vs. detention based on danger and necessity of detention, not wealth.

Photo of Sharone Mitchell on the panel the NLADA ACCD conference

Mitchell notes that before and after the implementation of no-cash-bail, judges have relied on electronic monitoring and "e-carceration" as a political safety blanket.

Photo of Sharlyn Grace speaking on the panel

The panel discusses the SAFE-T Act, the process of building a coalition & defending against pushback, and the impact of no-cash-bail.

Grace notes that there are 6000 people in the Cook County Jail, about half of what it was 12-13 years ago, and about 2500 fewer since implementation of no-cash-bail.

Photo of Sharone Mitchell speaking at the NLADA ACCD conference

Photo of Tanya Watkins speaking on the panel with Will Tanzman

Photo of Sharlyn Grace and Aditi Singh on the panel

Our first panel discussion centers on IL's no-cash-bail system, w/ Sharone Mitchell (Cook Co. Public Defender), Tanya Watkins (Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation), Will Tanzman (@peopleslobbyusa.bsky.social), Aditi Singh (Alliance for Safety and Justice), and Sharlyn Grace (Cook Co. PD).

Photo of Mayor Brandon Johnson at the NLADA ACCD conference

Mayor Johnson speaks about defenders and community safety:

We're committed to doing the work of improving the criminal legal system, and public defenders have that same drive.

We have to build safer cities by investing in them. Amid federal overreach, we have to protect the dignity of our people.

Photo of Mayor Brandon Johnson speaking at the conference

Mayor Johnson continues:

The work of improving our criminal legal system and making communities safer needs everyone in the system - defenders, prosecutors, police, courts, et al. - to come together. It's about applying justice fairly regardless of race, income level, or zip code.

Photo of Mayor Brandon Johnson speaking at the NLADA ACCD conference

Mayor Johnson discusses criminal legal system reform in Chicago and the importance of public defenders:

The shift away from cash bail and a regressive system to reform is one of the ways we're working to make Cook County and Illinois better.

Photo of Mayor Brandon Johnson speaking at the NLADA ACCD conference

The ACCD conference begins with remarks from Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson:

When you think about the societal factors that drive people into poverty, it's public defenders who are on the front line working every day to fight poverty and protect communities.