Mission
Our mission is to zealously protect and defend the rights of our clients through compassionate and effective legal representation of the highest quality, in pursuit of a fair and unbiased system of justice for all.
Purpose
Our office is dedicated to the basic American ideal that the quality of justice a person receives should never depend upon how much money he or she has. Our attorneys and staff strive to provide the highest quality legal representation to our clients, and believe that defending the rights of our clients protects the rights of all members of our community.
Core Values
- Client-Centered
- Excellence
- Compassion
- Collaboration
- Integrity
The Public Defender's Credo
- I am a Public Defender
- I am the guardian of the presumption of innocence, due process and fair trial
- To me is entrusted the preservation of those sacred principles
- I will promulgate them with courtesy and respect but not with obsequiousness and not with fear
- For I am partisan; I am counsel for the defense
- Let none who oppose me forget that with every fiber of my being I will fight for my clients
- My clients are the indigent accused
- They are the lonely, the friendless
- My voice will be raised in their defense
- I will resolve all doubt in their favor
- This will be my credo; this and the Golden Rule
- I will seek acclaim and approval only from my own conscience
- And upon my death, if there are a few lonely people who have benefitted, my efforts will not have been in vain
Jim Doherty, Public Defender; Chicago, Illinois