Cook County Public Defenders Association

Recent newspaper articles about an anti-biotic resistant strain of staph infection (MRSA) have caused much concern among the membership.  Some lawyers have reported seeing clients who have contracted the MRSA infection and are concerned about whether they are putting themselves at risk by visiting clients in jail and generally being around infected clients.  Local leadership is working on this issue with management and is providing some infromation about MRSA so that the membership can be more informed in the meantime.

Click here: MRSA: Understand your risk and how to prevent infection – MayoClinic.com

Click here: NPR : Staph Killing More Americans Than AIDS

Also, Dr. Chad Zawitz, infection control officer at Cermak Health Services is going to give a presentation on MRSA on November 6, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. at the 7th Floor Library at 2650 S. California.  Please attend if you would like to know more about MRSA.

In case you haven’t noticed, President Stroger has asked for a hike in the county sales tax from .75% to 2.75%. His new budget is out too and is based on the premise that the county can raise 800 million in tax hikes and fee increases. This premise may be a faulty one: with the mayor also asking for increases in fees and property taxes, it’s becoming obvious that many people have concerns over tax increases.

While the President’s budget has no layoffs for our department (260 Public Defender) all I can tell you at this point is that it doesn’t even come close to putting us at status quo ante. (Take a look four yourself.. it’s on the county website). And it’s no better for all the clinics that were closed – they stay closed. But we all know that the county needs more revenue.

The tax increase being sought by the President is even by his own admission more than is needed. While we need an increase in revenue, we should only ask for what we need.

In a recent letter form Henry Bayer, Executive Director of Council 31 and Roberta Lynch, Deputy Director, it was explained how the union has joined ‘with over seventy civic community and religious organizations” to call for an Emergency temporary trustee of the county hospital system. The idea being to eliminate political interference in hiring and contracting. Reform in this area would go hand-in-hand with a modest tax increase in order to ensure the level of services the citizens of this County deserve and expect.

Last January, the county board held public hearings that were well attended by this and other locals. We warned the committee about the thread bare budget our office was working on and heard the pleas of health care providers and others who were eliminated from the 2007 county budget. Public hearings are now scheduled again for the new budget and we need now more than ever to show up and be heard.

Check out the public hearing schedule, or for those unable to link:

• Wed 10/24/07 6:30 pm Oak Forest Hospital
• Fri 10/26/07 10:00 am County Building
• Tue 10/30/07 6:30 pm Skokie Courthouse
• Tue 11/6/07 6:30 pm Proviso East H.S.

The hearings will be before the finance committee chaired by John Daley and even though President Todd Stroger will not be in attendence, members of this local should be — to talk about real revenue and real reform.

October 17, 2007 will mark the first anniversary of our protected union status under Cook County ordianance and we have scheduled a celebration.The past 12 months had some great highs, and some regrettable lows. As for highs, AFSCME was successful in passing an historic county ordinance protecting our rights to unionize and collectively bargain, and we began to reap the benefits of a good contract that we negotiated under difficult financial times. As for lows, we experienced layoffs in an office that was already understaffed. Many believe that never should have happened, but unfortunately, it did happen.Through it all, we learned a lot- who we can count on to fight for our rights and benefits and who stands on the sidelines. I am proud of the many assistant public defenders who stepped up during these events to help their brothers and sisters, and proud of the way the Union fought for our members. From petitions, to press conferences, to ongoing advocacy efforts, we have learned much about how to stand up for assistant public defenders.The County budget cycle will kick in again soon. As always, County revenue will be problematic, and again the Cook County Commissioners will be seeking solutions. We must be ready as a public defender local of over 400 members to take action, to show up to site meetings, to call Commissioners, and to advocate for ourselves. As we have learned, if we don’t do it, no one will. And we know that if our message does not get out, politicians will be looking to our office again as a place to shave cost.As I said earlier, October 17, 2007 will mark the 1st anniversary of the County passing the Cook County Asistant Public Defender Collective Bargaining Ordinance. In addition, we believe that by then, all our laid off attorneys will be back on the job. To celebrate, we are having an extended happy hour at Stanley’s. Come celeberate! Here’s the information:

• Wednesday, 10/17/07
• 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Stanley’s on Racine (former location for Tutto Orsi)
• 324 S. Racine Ave., Chicago, IL
• Cocktails, Beer, Wine and Finger Foods
• Local 3315, Full Share Members Only!

In case you haven’t noticed, the promotional Grade III and Grade IV postings are back up.  Even if you slipped in an application prior to the original postings being rescinded, you must apply again, with the new posting number.

In a 27 page tour de force, Justice Burke for a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court found that a Frye hearing must be held prior to the admission of the results of a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test (HGN) in Illinois.  The defendant’s conviction was reversed and remanded because the question of the reliability of the HGN as evidence of alcohol impairment is in conflict and no Frye hearing has been held in Illinois on the question. (APDs should object to any such testimony until this question is resolved via a Frye hearing and the appeals that will resolve the question)  People v. McGown, No. 102372 9/20/07.

President Stroger’s office is predicting a budget shortfall for the coming year of $307 million.  On Monday, October 1, the County Board will be discussing a proposal to raise the county portion of sales tax from .75% to 2.75%.  The revenue generated by this proposal could mean an addional $749 million in annual revenue for Cook County. 

What does this mean for us in the Public Defender Office?  This means another season of political debate about where to shave County operating expenses, another season of fighting to protect our Office and our clients, and another call for assistant public defenders to get involved in these very serious matters that effect us all.

Calls to four laid off attorneys were being made on Tuesday September 25th notifying them that they needed to appear at the County building to take their medical to get clearance for recall. They should be back at work on the day after Columbus Day. The attorneys are Andrea Bonds, Shelley Blair, Joe Stachler and Kim Tallon. Welcome back to all of them.

Below is a little note from Shelley Blair about the whole experience and her communication with the local:

I am writing to thank the Union for all their hard work in getting me back to work-I just found out today that I have been recalled.

The one thing that kept my hopes alive and my spirits up was my constant communication with Bob Galhotra. When you are out of a job, keeping your hopes and spirits alive means a lot. While I wasn’t always filled in on exactly what the Union was doing, Bob Galhotra remained in constant contact with me. I probably emailed him once every two weeks-sometimes more, and he ALWAYS got back to me within hours. While he could not always disclose what was going on ‘behind closed doors,’ he was always honest with me and answered all my questions. This means a lot to someone who has lost their job and wants nothing more than to come back. I write this with full confidence in our Union and that they will continue to try to remedy all that was wrong with the layoffs.

A defendant who is seated in the car from which a shot is fired, who remains in the car as it speeds away from the scene of the crime, and who is arrested later while still in the car, is not accountable for the shooting unless it can be proven that he had the intent to commit the shooting. People v. Washington, No. 2-05-0826.  The Second District recently reversed an attempt murder conviction of a defendant under these ciricumstances.  Addressing accountability, the Washington court stated the following: “our supreme court has made clear that mere presence of a defendant at the scene of a crime, even when joined with flight from the crime and knowledge of its commission, is insufficient to establish accountability.“

Last week, postings went up around the Office for promotions and transfers to numerous sites in the Office.  Today, some of those notices had to be temporarily rescinded because of problems with the County.  Postings for transfers are still in effect, including transfers to Bridgeview and 26th Street for Grade II positions.  Other postings that included possible promotions have been rescinded, including postings for Grade IV positions in Markham and Homicide Task Force and Grade III positions in the Multiple Defendant Division and 26th Street.

 If you have interest in the Grade II transfers, you should bid now.  If you have interest in the rescinded postings, stay tuned as these positions may be re-posted soon.

As posted previously, Ron Alwin passed away on May 19, 2007.   Since his funeral was out of town in Wisconsin, many of his friends and colleagues were unable to attend the services.

On September 25th, 2007 at 4:00 p.m. in Courtroom 2525 of the Dirksen Federal Building, a gathering has been planned to remember Ron.

Please join his friends, family and colleagues for an evening of memories, storytelling and festivities . . . just the way Ron would have liked it.