Stephen W. Baker earned his J.D. at Loyola University of Chicago in His legal career began as an Assistant State s Attorney in Rock Island

Transcription

1 Stephen W. Baker earned his J.D. at Loyola University of Chicago in His legal career began as an Assistant State s Attorney in Rock Island County ( ), Chief Public Defender for DuPage County ( ), Legislative Liaison for the Cook County Public Defender ( ), and Legislative Liaison for the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (2008). Mr. Baker was in private practice from and has served as the Legislative Liaison for the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender in Chicago, Illinois since He is the Past President and current Board Member of the Illinois Public Defender Association; member of the Illinois State Bar Association; and Parliamentarian of IACDL.

2 Hon. Donald D. Bernardi is a graduate of Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois (B.A. in Philosophy 1973) and Western New England College School of Law (J.D. 1978) Springfield, Massachusetts. He was admitted to practice in Illinois in 1978, in the U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois in 1980 and the United States Supreme Court in He served as Assistant State s Attorney of Livingston County from 1978 to 1982 and as State s Attorney from 1982 to 1991 when he became an Associate Judge for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. Judge Bernardi was elected as a Circuit Judge in November 1996, and retained in He retired from the Bench in December Judge Bernardi is currently a lecturer in the Criminal Justice Sciences and Political Sciences Department at Illinois State University teaching Investigative techniques, and Criminal. Judge Bernardi has completed a Bench book entitled Illinois Judicial Bench book on Capital Cases for the Illinois Supreme Court. He is a current member of the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Illinois Judges Association. Judge Bernardi was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to be on the faculty of numerous Judicial Seminars. These include: the New Judge Seminar 06-12, Education Conference 06, 08, 10, 12, and Capital Cases Seminar The lecture topics have included: Selected Issues in Sentencing, DUI Offenders in State Court, The Anatomy of a Criminal Trial, Hearsay and Crawford v. Washington, and Guilty Pleas and Sentencing.

3 Lori G. Levin is an experienced litigator in the private practice of law. She is a sole practitioner handling criminal and juvenile justice, mental health and guardianship matters. After a long career in public service, Ms. Levin opened her private practice in She has successfully defended persons in criminal and juvenile matters not only in the Circuit Court of Cook County but also in the collar counties. From August 2003 through June 2009, Ms. Levin was Executive Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, a state agency with an annual budget of over $100 million dedicated to improving the administration of criminal justice by bringing together key leaders from the justice system in Illinois, and to propose and evaluate policies, programs, and legislation that address those issues. As Executive Director, she was twice elected to Chair the Illinois Integrated Justice Information Systems Implementation Board, Chaired the Task force to Update the Statewide Domestic Violence Protocol and Served on the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, Illinois Sex Offender Management Board, City of Chicago Mayor s Domestic Violence Advisory Coordinating Council, Juvenile Justice ReDeploy Illinois Steering Committee, Governor s Community Safety and Reentry Working Group, Metropolis 2020 s Justice Violence Index Advisory council, Go To 2040 Crime and Justice Planning Initiative Advisory Board and State of Illinois/City of Chicago Collaborative on Prisoner Reentry. Previously, Ms. Levin was Supervisor of the Cook County State s Attorney s Office s Seniors and Persons with Disabilities Division, where she oversaw the prosecution of felonies against the elderly and disabled in the Criminal Division and the handling of involuntary commitment and treatment cases in the County Division s Mental Health Courts. Before that, she was assigned to the Felony Trial Division, where for ten years she first-chaired jury and bench trials, primarily violent crime cases. Ms. Levin has been very active in national, state and local bar associations. She currently serves as Chair of the Illinois State Bar Association s Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education and serves on its Assembly, Criminal Justice Section Council and Standing Committee on Women and the Law. She is a past President of the Women s Bar Association of Illinois. She is a past Vice-Chair for Professional Development/CLE of the ABA s Criminal Justice Section Council and a past Liaison to the American Bar Association s Commission on Women in the Profession. Ms. Levin is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She has lectured extensively on criminal justice, juvenile justice, elder and mental health law and women s issues.

4 Ronald L. Lewis earned his B.A. at Eastern Illinois University and his J.D. at the John Marshall Law School. He is the First Assistant Public Defender for the McLean County Public Defender s Office in Bloomington, Illinois. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Public Defender Association, McLean County Recovery Court Team (Mental Health Court), McLean County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, McLean County Bar Association Mentor Program, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Mental Health Court Association of Illinois.

5 Hon. Michael P. McCuskey was born in Peoria in He received a B.S. in education from Illinois State University in 1970 and was a history teacher and baseball coach at Ottawa High School before entering law school. He graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law in He was a partner in the law firm of Pace, McCuskey and Galley in Lacon, Illinois, from He also served part-time as Marshall County Public Defender from 1976 until In 1991, he received the Illinois Public Defender Association s Award of Excellence and Meritorious Service. In 2003, he received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Illinois State University and is Chair of the Board of Trustees for ISU. McCuskey also serves as a Commissioner for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. Judge McCuskey was elected Circuit Judge of the Tenth Judicial Circuit in 1988 and assigned to felony court in Peoria. He was elected to the Third District Appellate Court in At that time, he was the youngest appellate court judge in Illinois. He served as an Illinois Appellate Court Judge until May 4, 1998, when he was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Central District of Illinois. He served as Chief Judge for the Central District from 2004 to Judge McCuskey is very active in bar-related matters. He is past chair of the ISBA Civil Practice Section Council and the Federal Civil Practice Section Council. Judge McCuskey previously served as a member of the Bench & Bar and General Practice Section Councils. He is currently a member of the ISBA Assembly, Criminal Justice Section Council, and Civil Practice Section Council. Judge McCuskey also serves on the Board of Directors for the Bar Association of the Central and Southern Federal Districts of Illinois.

6 John J. O Gara, Jr. earned his B.A. (high honors) at Quincy College in 1983 and his J.D. at St. Louis University in He is admitted to practice in Illinois (1987), the U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois (1994), the U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois (1995), the U.S. Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit (1999), the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Illinois Capital Litigation Trial Bar (2002). Mr. O Gara is the Founder of O Gara and Gomric, P.C. in Belleville, Illinois. Prior to this, he served as an Assistant Public Defender ( ) and Public Defender ( ) in Knox County, and Assistant Public Defender in St. Clair County ( ). In addition to his current role at O Gara and Gomric, P.C., Mr. O Gara also serves as Chief Public Defender for St. Clair County. Mr. O Gara frequently lectures for a variety of legal associations and has received several awards and honorary mentions, including the Charles M. Shaw Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy, Illinois Super Lawyers, and Chicago Magazine Top Attorneys in Illinois.

7 Hon. Patrick J. Quinn received his B.A. degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1975 and his J.D. degree from John Marshall Law School in He served as an Assistant State's Attorney of Cook County from 1981 until his election to the Appellate Court in He was supervisor of the Sixth Municipal District from 1989 to Judge Quinn then headed the Public Integrity Unit and, subsequently, the Organized Crime Unit of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

8 John J. Rekowski - Mr. Rekowski graduated from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and received his Juris Doctor cum laude from St. Louis University in He served as an Assistant Public Defender in Madison County, Illinois from his admission to the bar until his appointment as Chief Public Defender in 1985, a position which he still holds. He was also engaged in a wide ranging private practice in Collinsville, Illinois under the name Rekowski and Associates from 1979 through In 1986, he joined the Board of Directors of the Illinois Public Defender Association. He assumed the presidency of that organization in 1991 and served in that capacity for over 5 years. He still continues to serve on the Board of Directors. In 1990 he was appointed to a six year term as a Commissioner of the Office of the State Appellate Defender by the Appellate Court of the 5th Judicial District of Illinois. He also served on the Data Advisory Committee of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. He served as one of the original members the Illinois Supreme Court s Special Committee on Professionalism which resulted in the promulgation of the Supreme Court Rules on mandatory continuing legal education. He was appointed to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar by the Supreme Court and served there from 2004 to He currently serves on the Criminal Justice Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association. As a member of the American, Illinois State and Madison County Bar Associations, the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Illinois Public Defender Association, he has testified on criminal justice bills before the General Assembly and has done panels for IICLE, IPDA, and the Illinois State Bar Association. He is also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. Mr. Rekowski and his wife, Carol, reside in Glen Carbon, Illinois. They have two daughters, Jean Garcia and Elizabeth Delaney, both of Collinsville, IL.

9 Ava George Stewart is a criminal defense lawyer practicing in Chicago, Il with a focus on DUI. She currently serves as the Illinois Delegate for the National College for DUI Defense. She is also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and serves on the DUI Committee. She is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association s Assembly, the Illinois Bar Journal s Editorial Board, Criminal Justice Committee and she just finished serving as Chair of the Traffic Laws and Courts Committee. Additionally, Ava is a member of the Chicago Lincoln Inn of Court, Cook County Bar Association, and Women Everywhere. In 2006, Ava became a founding member of the Women s Criminal Defense Bar Association. She received her Law Degree from the University of Illinois, and holds both a Master s degree in Managerial Communication and a Bachelor s degree from Northwestern University. Ava is a past board member of MLER, Minority Legal Education Resources, an organization that prepares Illinois law students to pass the Illinois Bar Exam. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ava gained over ten years management experience as Executive Director at several not-for-profit organizations, with a focus on homeless and disenfranchised women and children in a variety of racially and ethnically diverse communities.

10 Hon. John A. Wasilewski earned his B.A. at DePaul University in 1974 and his J.D. at Northern Illinois University in He is licensed to practice in Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court (1978), U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois (1978), U.S. Supreme Court (1983), and the Federal Trial Bar (1983). Judge Wasilewski began his legal career at the Cook County State s Attorney s Office ( ). On May 6, 2009, he was appointed as a Circuit Court Judge by the Illinois Supreme Court, a position he retired from in December In November 2011, Judge Wasilewski was appointed as an Administrative Magistrate to review pre-trial detainees incarcerated at the Cook County Jail and approve release from jail on electronic monitoring. Judge Wasilewski is a Silver Fellow member of the Illinois Bar Foundation, and a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, Advocates Society (Polish American Lawyers), National Advocates Society (National Association of Polish American Lawyers), Judicature Society, Southwest Bar Association, and the South Suburban Bar Association.

11 Mark K. Wykoff, Sr. retired from the United States Army in 2003 after a 21-year active-duty career that culminated with service as a Defense Intelligence Agency clandestine intelligence officer. He is a life member of the Military Officers Association of America, a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and a life member of Disabled American Veterans. During his military service, he acquired an Associate s degree from the University of Alaska, a Bachelor s degree from the University of the State of New York, and a Master s degree in International Relations from Troy University. After retirement from the military, Mark graduated from the Southern Illinois University School of Law. He practices in State courts throughout Illinois, and handles federal criminal cases in the Central and Southern Districts of Illinois. Professional Affiliations: Member - Christian County Bar Association; Member Sangamon County Bar Association; Member - Illinois State Bar Association; Member - National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Board of Directors - Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Council Member - Illinois State Bar Association Committee on Sentencing and Corrections; Council Member - Illinois State Bar Association Committee on Criminal Justice; Pro Bono Staff Attorney - The Downstate Innocence Project, University of Illinois Springfield; Christian County Conflict Public Defender; Assistant Public Defender, Logan County, Illinois; Criminal Justice Act Federal Panel Attorney; Guest Lecturer, Criminal Procedure, Southern Illinois University School of Law; Member and former SIU School of Law President - The Federalist Society.