IL: "they reconciled their differences"

The p.d. news today concerns Cook County chief public defender Edwin Burnette. From the Cook County Public Defender Blog:

Rumors of his Demise Greatly Exaggerated

The hearing on the proposed resolution to remove Ed Burnette has been cancelled...

From the Chicago Tribune's Clout Street:

Stroger drops effort to fire public defender

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is dropping his effort to fire Public Defender Edwin Burnette, the public defender and a spokesman for Stroger confirmed Monday...

More news and links from Division Street.

IL: Ed Burnette's swan song

From Chicago Breaking News Center:

Public defender wins last case over Stroger

During his last day in office today, Cook County Public Defender Edwin Burnette was savoring a legal victory over County Board President Todd Stroger. The victory came in the form of a unanimous ruling from the First District Illinois Appellate Court. It made clear the public defender - and not the board president - has control over hiring, firing and discipline in the public defender's office...

See also Cook County Public Defenders Blog, Burnette Victorious in Suit Against Stroger

(My kind of town. My vacation there starts this Saturday.)

IL: fire 50 public defenders, save Todd Stroger's private elevator

Law student Grace at Law with Grace is not impressed with the thinking behind the budget cutting in Cook County:

At first it seemed like the PD's office would refuse to comply. But they've had a change of ummm.... uhhhh...heart? Like, overnight. I'd LOVE to know how that happened. Suffice it to say that politics in Chicago are rarely as they seem...

Todd Stroger calls for a 17% budget cut of the PD's office. The PD's office complies, resulting in about 50 assistant public defenders being laid off.

A little something called Gideon v. Wainwright means that a defendant has a right to counsel. Currently, this is not something Cook County is exempt from providing its defendants...

More from Soapblox Chicago (nice Haymarket graphic by the way):

Cook County to Cut "Fat" From Public Defenders' Office By Possibly Spending More Money:

Federal law mandates that legal representation be provided at the county's expense for indigent defendants, but private attorneys start twice as high as the measly wages the public defender's union has been able to negotiate. The only rationale for cuts in the public defender's office is to give the appearance of cutting spending while deferring the inevitable substantially higher costs into a later timeframe and buying time to lay the blame.

And you can always keep up with the latest on the Cook County Public Defenders Association Blog (AFSCME Local 3315).

IL: Cook County p.d.s on the chopping block

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Many lawyers could lose jobs - Prosecutors, public defenders would feel pinch

Tensions are roiling the Cook County public defender's office amid fears the county's budget woes could force deep cuts in legal staff.

The 10 percent budget cut initially requested by county officials would force layoffs of 150 lawyers, Public Defender Ed Burnette said. If County Board President Todd Stroger gets the 17 percent cut he is now asking for, at least 210 assistant public defenders would have to be cut, another source said. "It's going to be devastating," Burnette said...

Send some love to the colleagues in Chicagoland, the poor bastards.

Update: they have a blog.