093_HR0197
LRB093 11433 KEF 14220 r
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives congratulate Rita Aliese Fry on her
4 retirement as Chief Executive of the Cook County Public
5 Defender's Office; and
6 WHEREAS, Ms. Fry was reappointed to a second six-year
7 term as Public Defender in June of 1998, having been
8 previously appointed and confirmed by the Cook County Board
9 of Commissioners in March of 1992; her duties and
10 responsibilities included designating liaisons to all county
11 and court agencies involved in the administration and funding
12 of the Office; ex-officio member of all Office committees;
13 director of all internal Office operations; and monitoring
14 all activities of the Office through the First Assistant
15 Public Defender and Operations Directors, including all
16 requests for expenditures, budgets, and allocation of
17 resources; and
18 WHEREAS, In 1968, Ms. Fry received an Associate of Arts
19 degree from Prairie State College; in 1973 she received a
20 Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University, and in 1979
21 she received a J.D. degree from Northwestern University
22 College of Law; and
23 WHEREAS, From 1980 through 1986, she served as an
24 Assistant Public Defender assigned to the Felony Trial
25 Division and Homicide Task Force, where she litigated bench,
26 jury and capital cases, and was a misdemeanor trial attorney
27 in the First Municipal Division; and
28 WHEREAS, From 1986 to 1988, she was a Senior Attorney
29 Supervisor of the Municipal Prosecutions Divisions for the
30 City of Chicago Law Department, responsible for the
31 supervision of 15 lawyers assigned to prosecute civil and
32 criminal matters in the Circuit Court of Cook County and she
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1 provided legal counsel to various city departments such as
2 police, health, consumer services, zoning, liquor licensing
3 commission, and city council committees; and
4 WHEREAS, Ms. Fry was appointed First Assistant Public
5 Defender in August 1988 and served until 1992; she was
6 responsible for the direct management and day-to-day
7 operations of the Office of the Cook County Public Defender,
8 supervision of 508 attorneys and 248 support staff, and the
9 management of the FY 1992 $38 million budget; and
10 WHEREAS, Ms. Fry has been an instructor, lecturer, guest
11 speaker, and panelist for many organizations and at many
12 institutions of higher education; and
13 WHEREAS, Ms. Fry is the author of a chapter appearing in
14 the book, "Ethical Problems Facing the Criminal Defense
15 Lawyer" entitled "Calling Defense Witnesses: Whose Case Is
16 This Anyway?"; and
17 WHEREAS, Her memberships include the National Bar
18 Association, Cook County Bar Association, the National Legal
19 Aid and Defenders Association, the Illinois State Bar
20 Association, the American Bar Association, the American
21 Management Association, Black Women Lawyers Association, the
22 National Lawyers Guild, Chicago Council of Lawyers, the
23 Chicago Conference of Black Lawyers, Inns of Court, National
24 Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers, Fellows of the
25 American Bar Foundations, and many others; and
26 WHEREAS, In June 1994, Ms. Fry was selected by the
27 President of the Supreme Court of Ethiopia to assist in
28 establishing a long-term administrative structure for
29 Ethiopia's first public defender system; and
30 WHEREAS, Ms. Fry is the 1995 recipient of the Anne
31 O'Brien Stevens Award and the 1992 recipient of the IDA Platt
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1 Award, the Kizzy Award, and the Sixth Amendment Award;
2 therefore, be it
3 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
4 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
5 we congratulate Rita Aliese Fry on her retirement as Chief
6 Executive of the Cook County Public Defender's Office and
7 wish her good health and happiness in all of her future
8 endeavors; and be it further
9 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10 presented to Rita Aliese Fry with our respect and esteem.