Join Pilsen Community Books for a discussion about Radical Acts of Justice and the grassroots movements that are challenging the status quo in the criminal leagal system with author Jocelyn Simonson, a leading authority on bail reform and social movements, in conversation by Cook County Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr. Radical Acts of Justice argues that the answer to mass incarceration lies not with experts and pundits, but with ordinary people taking extraordinary collective action, using the tools of criminal procedure to shift power away from the elite actors at the front of the courtroom and toward the swelling collective in the back.

Cook County Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr., is a passionate advocate for the rights of everyone represented by the Public Defender's office and for reform to increase justice in the legal system and to keep communities safe. His six-year appointment began in April 2021. Mitchell began his legal career as an assistant public defender in Cook County, including assignments in the Civil, First Municipal, and Felony Trial Divisions. He later joined the Illinois Justice Project, one of the state’s leading criminal justice reform non-profits, becoming that organization’s director in 2019.