Cook County Public Defenders Blog

Wake and Funeral Mass Arrangements for Martha Fitzsimmons

 Wake:  Thursday Evening    February 25^th, 2010 McDonough Hall  (Gleason Building)  2^nd floor 1101 Columbian Avenue Oak Park, Illinois  60302

Visiting hours: 6 pm through 9 pm At 7:30 pm, there will be a special service with prayer, sharing memories, and music. Everyone who wishes to share a “Martha story” is asked to write up a reflection and bring it on Thursday evening to share with family and friends. All stories are being collected to create a memory book for Rafa.  

Memorial Mass:  11 AM  - Saturday , February 27^th, 2010  St. Giles Church  (Columbian and Greenfield) Oak Park, Il. 60302

 Reception:  McDonough Hall immediately after the service.

Some thoughts on Martha from Larry Spivack, President of the Illinois Labor History Society and Regional Director, AFSCME Council 31 and an AFSCME organizer who helped start this Local.

About 25 years ago Martha Fitzsimmons joined a zealous group of advocates. They were Cook County Public Defenders, but they were more than that. They were a band of activists who sought to bring a Union to the Public Defenders Office. In doing so they were able to bring a much greater sense of dignity to the job, not just in material terms, but also in creating a sense of community that had been lacking for some time. By September of 1987 a ground breaking Agreement between the Public Defender and AFSCME’s newest affiliate, the Cook County Public Defender’s Association had created something almost unimaginable: It was a contract between the parties that made a pathway for a financially durable career as a Public Defender and made an organization that lives to this day with one of the best contracts for attorneys who are sometimes referred to around the country as the Peoples’ Lawyers. Public sector lawyers around the country can, in part, thank Martha Fitzsimmons if they have competitive wages and benefits.

This Agreement would not have been reached or lasted as long without Martha Fitzsimmons. Martha was a hard bargainer, known to never mince words or to compromise without cause. Despite her strong opinions and ideas, Martha was one of the few who walked the walk and lived by her own words. Martha stayed active in the Union for the entirety of her career. If not out front on a bargaining committee or on the leadership team of the local union, Martha was a steward the entire time AFSCME represented our office. She was always a resource for younger attorneys who realized the idea of union representation was a natural role for an Assistant Public Defender but had no idea how to get there. Martha’s actions in helping build the union into a vibrant institution is not unique, but nevertheless unusual when it comes to Attorneys. Martha was one of the few who made the connection between unionization and social justice for the indigent and less fortunate. For Martha, defending the Constitution and defending her union contract were one in the same. And it wasn’t just about making more money. The connection to good working conditions and an office that promoted career service and the best criminal defense attorneys anywhere is not a simple concept to conjure. But Martha understood this quite well.

It may seem a bit hyperbolic to compare Martha to some of our early heroines in labor history. Mother Jones who fought to end child labor and the dehumanization and  degradation of coal miners; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn who helped bring justice to textile workers; Delores Huerta who struggled for farm worker’s rights or even Jane Adams who marched in nearly every worker’s cause. But we would be remiss if we didn’t think of Martha Fitzsimmons when we think of some of the women today who have advanced the cause of workers in general and women and children in particular.

I am sure that Martha will be remembered by many of her clients for how she helped them. It is my hope that any PD who has benefited from Martha’s lifetime of service to the office and her union will realize that their standard of living today, their ability to provide a extraordinary service to “the people” is in a large part, due to a women named Martha Fitzsimmons.

In a well reasoned opinion by Justice McBride,  issued on 2/5/10, a conviction for PCS/W >1 gram <15 grams was reduced to a Class 4 PCS because 1:  The forensic chemist testified that he combined multiple packets to determine weight before testing for the presence of a controlled substance thus giving the Court “no way of knowing whether each packet contained heroin or if only one contained heroin.”  2:  Testimony that the defendant dropped a package containing 13 packets of suspect heroin while fleeing from the police plus the $40.00 recovered from the defendant was insufficient to prove intent to deliver.  Read People v.  Clinton No. 1-08-0720 here.

Brothers and Sisters:

As some of you may know, our sister, Martha Fitzsimmons left the office after her battle with lung cancer took a turn for the worse.  The Executive Board, voted to honor Martha and her service to our clients and this union by making a donation in her honor to a cause she has felt strongly about for many years.  What follows is a letter that we sent along with a donation to the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. 

 Martha is also our Member of the Month.

The local is very proud to announce (unofficially) that several of its members have been elected to judical seats in the primary election held on February 2, 2010.  In addition, two former members of this local are also winners in the election.

Mark Levitt – winner of the Democratic primary in the 4th Judicial Subcircuit, Lake County.  Mark has been an assistant Cook County public defender for almost 20 years and was lead counsel in the ”Browns Chicken” case.  Mark will face a Republican challenger in the general election.

Terry MacCarthy- a supervisor and former member of the local won Full Circuit Bronstein seat in the primary.  He has no Republican challenger in the general election.

Daniel Gallagher- Dan, an assistant at 26th Street was uncontested in the primary and will face a  Republican challenger in the fall.

Ann Finley Collins- A member of the Homicide Task Force, won in a race with many qualified challengers including two sitting judges.  Ann will not have a challenger in the general election.

Judge Jim Epstein – a former public defender who helped organize the local twenty years ago has won a seat on the 1st District Appellate court (McNulty vacancy).

Judge Geary Kull -  another former public defender, was in a very heated race and it still might be too close to call because he has a slim lead of abut 80 votes based on the vote totals available as of  2/3/10 at / 8:00 a.m.

Best of luck to all the winners and thanks to the members of this local who spread the word to  the voters in Cook County to vote for and elect the best of the bunch.