The research team is led by Julie Biehl, Clinical Law Professor and Director, Children and Family Justice Center (CFJC), Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and Sino Esthappan, Ph.D. candidate, Sociology Department and Center for Legal Studies, Northwestern University. Hunter Motko is the software engineer for this site.
Marisa LaBella, legal assistant, Bluhm Legal Clinic, is the research team’s utility player – assisting with administrative tasks and data gathering. Finally, the following current and former Northwestern University law and undergraduate students participated in every aspect of the research and without whom the data presented here would not exist:
- Katie Behzad NULS ‘22
- Jihao Ding NULS ‘23
- Erin Hughes NULS ‘23
- Alexis Jones Johnson NULS ‘22
- Alyssa Hiller NULS ‘25
- Ashley Justice NULS ‘24
- Halley Lane NULS ‘25
- Douglas Lee NU ‘25
- Diego Manrique NULS ‘25
- Ariana Moore NULS ‘22
- Jennifer Shanahan NULS ‘22
- Emma Silberstein NULS ‘22
- Cai Wheeler NULS ‘23
- Daniel Wolf NU ‘25
The research team thanks Illinois’ chief public defenders, assistant public defenders, and contract defense attorneys for their representation of accused people, especially under the conditions revealed by the data. In particular, the research team wants to thank the over 20 chief public defenders, assistant public defenders and contract attorneys who shared their perspective on the Illinois’ indigent defense system with the research team.
Finally, the research team is grateful to the Illinois Supreme Court for their investment in improving Illinois’ indigent defense system and creating a task force to examine and make recommendations regarding indigent defense. In particular, the research team appreciates and recognizes Kathy Saltmarsh and Cara LeFevour Smith for their steadfast leadership and dedication to Illinois’ criminal and juvenile legal system.