The Pretrial Fairness Act in Practice (1/9/25)

A little over a year has passed since cash bail was abolished in Illinois. During this seminar, speakers from the Cook County Public Defender’s Office will take a deep dive into how the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) is put into practice in the courtroom on a daily basis. The panel will discuss navigating initial appearance hearings, the PFA appeals process, and provide access to important PFA legal resources for criminal attorneys. The goal of this seminar is to help practitioners understand the ins and outs of the Pretrial Fairness Act. 

Speakers: 
Abir Ahmed, Assistant Public Defender, Cook County Public Defender’s Office
Sharlyn Grace, Senior Policy Advisor, Cook County Public Defender’s Office
Patricia Jjemba, Director of Legislative and External Affairs, Cook County Public Defender’s Office
Tiara Morgan, Assistant Public Defender, Cook County Public Defender’s Office 

Moderators: 
Ashley Rodriguez, Second Chance Law LLC
Robert Alexander, Vanguard Advocates, LLP
Co-Chairs, YLS Criminal Law Committee

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Live CBA Committee meetings and seminars will take place via Zoom webinar.  You will click on "view video" and be directly connected to the meeting/seminar on Zoom.  (You will not receive a Zoom link.)

You MUST have Zoom Desktop Client on your Mac or PC to view a live program. If using a mobile device, you must have the Zoom App (available in the App Store or Google Play).

System requirements for Mac & PC can be found here. System requirements for mobile devices can be here.  

Please note that audience members do not need video or audio access.  Audience members are able to submit questions via the chat or Q & A features of Zoom. 

Chat: Open in-meeting chat, allowing you to send chat messages to and send a message to the host, panelists, and attendees (if permitted). Question & Answer: Open the Q&A window, allowing you to ask questions to the host and panelists. They can either reply back to you via text in the Q&A window or answer your question live.