{"id":137,"date":"2007-12-20T12:14:30","date_gmt":"2007-12-20T18:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookcountypd.org\/blog\/2007\/12\/20\/what-the-tribune-editorial-board-wont-print\/"},"modified":"2007-12-21T07:34:35","modified_gmt":"2007-12-21T13:34:35","slug":"what-the-tribune-editorial-board-wont-print","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/2007\/12\/20\/what-the-tribune-editorial-board-wont-print\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Tribune Editorial Board Won’t Print"},"content":{"rendered":"

The members of this local are tired of reading the onslaught of editorials from the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board in recent days which advocate across the board cuts to the County’s budget and oppose any tax increase.\u00a0 The Tribune has characterized county workers as folks who are “whining” about the budget. \u00a0The fact is that Tribune Editorial Board doesn’t have a clue as to what a budget cut of 10% would mean to the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender.\u00a0 We have printed below, in its entirety, the letter that Vice President Brendan Max sent to the Tribune in response to their recent editorials on the county budget.<\/p>\n

Letter to the Editor of the Chicago Tribune<\/font><\/p>\n

December 18, 2007<\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/font>\u00a0<\/font>The broad-brush strokes applied by this paper\u2019s editorial board, and other commentators, to the County budget process sometimes misses important detail.\u00a0 To those of us who provide needed services to the citizens of Cook County, the details matter.<\/font>For instance, in support of 10% across-the-board budget cuts, the Tribune editorial board characterized discussion of the impact of such cuts on the criminal justice system as \u201cwhining.\u201d\u00a0 While there is always much whining over the politics of the County budget process, there are also objective assessments of the budgetary needs of some county departments that should be part of the budget debate.\u00a0 And reference to these objective assessments isn\u2019t whining, it\u2019s reality.<\/font>So, for those in favor of further reducing the Cook County Public Defender Office staffing by 55 attorneys as part of indiscriminate across-the-board cuts, you should consider the reality of these cuts on our Office.<\/font>Just this month, a commission of judges, law professors, and other attorneys completed a 2-year review of the Cook County justice system, including an in-depth review of the Office of the Public Defender.\u00a0 While others may inform their budget commentary by momentary \u201cstrolls\u201d through county departments in search of lazy personnel, this Commission of 11 members and dozens of other staff studied the Cook County justice system for months, conducted over 100 interviews, and observed 160 hours of court proceedings. And here is what they found:<\/font> <\/p>\n