If three years seems like a long time to comply with a Supreme Court edict, how about 63?
I’ve written often about Illinois slogging toward compliance with a May 2023 ruling, Tyler v. Hennepin County, a Fifth Amendment decision stemming from Minnesota that functionally held that a government can’t foreclose on and sell a property without compensating the original owner for their equity.
But it was March 1963 when a unanimous ruling clarified the obligation to provide legal defense to people unable to afford an attorney. Gideon v. Wainwright, a unanimous decision, reconsidered 1942’s Betts v. Brady and expanded Sixth Amendment protections to anyone accused of any crime, “a fundamental right essential to a fair trial,” according to uscourts.gov.
Justice Hugo Black described the “noble ideal [of] fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law.” Illinois enshrined that idea into state law, but we’ve consistently underfunded public defense offices.
That may finally be changing. As Capitol News Illinois detailed, the two-year process of creating the Office of Statewide Public Defender took a big step with posting the job listing. Whoever the state hires is expected to serve at least two years and will earn the same as Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
Equal footing in courtrooms is a moving target, but Illinois has long lagged other states in adhering to the ideals of public defense. These reforms are painfully overdue.
LOCAL FOOD UPDATE: The most recent check-in on the Local Food Infrastructure Grant program was a March 24 column just before the window closed on applications for the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s $3.6 million in grant funding for projects that help get food from farms to homes.
I first wrote about LFIGs on March 23, 2024. Back then, the ag department was launching the program with $1.8 million, but 250 applicants submitted proposals for more than $23 million. Meanwhile, lawmakers were working on making the program permanent. In last week’s roundup of this year’s grants, CNI noted 61 different groups will get money this cycle. Although 16 are in Cook County, 45 others represent 34 different counties. (There’s a handy interactive map at tinyurl.com/LFIGrant26.)
Lawmakers put another $2 million for the effort in the current budget. It’s not a lot of money overall, but it makes a big difference for small businesses in an industry supporting more than 450,000 jobs and is well-aimed at improving statistics that, in recent years, indicated up to 95% of the food Illinoisans consume is imported.
This round of disbursals is only the third. The range of recipients and projects shows it’s meeting important needs and explains why it continues to be an easy yes for the General Assembly with each spending cycle.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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September 16, 2026 at 10:39AM
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