Sharone R. Mitchell Jr. is an attorney, currently serving as the Public Defender of Cook County Illinois. Mitchell is known for advocating justice reform and the end of the cash bail system. Previously, Mitchell was the Director of The Illinois Justice Project, an organization working toward advancing criminal justice policy reform, reducing recidivism, strengthening best practices for alternatives to incarceration and breaking the cycle of crime and violence. Before that, Mitchell was a Defense Attorney for the Cook County Public Defender's Office. Mitchell received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law, where he was President of the Black Law Student Association.