CBA Record

This is an exciting time to be here. We can really make a difference. Governor Rauner wants to reduce the prison population in Illinois. I’m right there with him, so long as it leads to us treating people fairly. Right now, it’s costing too much money, and it’s not protecting the public. President Preckwinkle is urging the Illinois General Assembly to end automatic transfer of juve- niles to adult courts. I agree. Children don’t stop being children just because they’ve committed a crime—they still need to be treated as children. Plus, we have to have faith in our judiciary. We need to allow our judges to use discretion. Automatic transfer laws and mandatory sentence enhance- ments take that discretion away. How did you become a public defender? I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a lawyer. I was a leader in my high school, and I always liked public speaking. I thought I would go into international commercial law because I speak French, and it seemed interesting. But I worked for an attorney in that area during law school and knew I wanted something else. Then I had a chance to work on a serious murder case while clerking with the Cook County Public Defender. I knew then that I wanted to stay at the office. Are there any other lawyers in your family? Other than my husband, I’m the only one. He and I met at a softball game: defend- ers versus prosecutors. I have a sister who worked at Misericordia, another who is a special education teacher, and two broth- ers who work with computers. But my parents certainly affected my decision to become an attorney. They taught us from a young age that everyone should be treated equally—that we should speak out instead of remaining silent and say uncomfortable truths. My mom lost a few friends over the years when talking about social justice issues, but she was right. You took a leave from the office a few years ago. Why did you leave?

A PERSONOF INTEREST BY GEOFFREY BURKHART Getting to Know…Amy Campanelli

I’ve been in management since 2003. When I was in charge of Suburban Opera- tions, most of my time was spent out of the courtroom, so this isn’t a big change in that sense. I made an effort to be in court as often as possible, and I plan to do that in this position. But when I talk about the people we represent, I still call them my clients , because as the Public Defender they are my clients . I have a duty to protect their rights and to ensure that their lawyers are well trained. There’s a long-standing myth among clients that public defenders aren’t attorneys. How did that start? I’m not sure how it started. It may stem from our services being free. A lot of people also distrust government agencies. But we chip away at that myth every day by fight- ing hard for our clients and earning their respect. Our community outreach program will also help educate the public about who we are and what we do, but it takes a while. Is the Public Defender an equal partner in the justice system in Cook County? I think so. I’ve been doing this a long time, and the other people in the justice system know me. I was at a meeting today with judges, prosecutors, and police, and was definitely treated as an equal partner in this system. We want parity with prosecu- tors, and the public shouldn’t want it any other way. You’re entering this position at an interesting time for criminal justice. Do you think the criminal justice system will look different in the coming years?

Congratulations on your appointment as Cook County Public Defender.What will you do first? Right now I’m filling leadership positions. I’m also enhancing our training program. We have a young office, so we’ll be doing heavy training on trial skills, mitigation, and collateral consequences. Later this year, I plan on launching our Department of Community Affairs. We’ll go to local high schools, explain what we do, teach kids about their legal rights, and address issues like sexting and cyberbullying. Most recently you were Deputy Assis- tant for SuburbanOperations. Is it diffi- cult to step away from the courtroom? Geoffrey Burkhart is Attorney Project Director at the Ameri- can Bar Association and a member of the CBA Record Editorial Board.

52 JULY/AUGUST 2015

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