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JULY/AUGUST 2015
A PERSONOF
INTEREST
BY GEOFFREY BURKHART
Getting to Know…Amy Campanelli
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?
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?
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?
Geoffrey Burkhart is Attorney
Project Director at the Ameri-
can Bar Association and a
member of the CBA Record
Editorial Board.