This week is shaping up to be a contentious one between Cook County Commissioners and their Board President Todd Stroger.

Commissioners are planning to lash out against everything from Stroger-backed budget cuts to personnel moves at their meeting tomorrow.

Many of those concerns have squarely affected the Cook County Public Defenders Office.

Budget cuts have forced that office to lay off 13 attorneys and place dozens of others on unpaid leave.

The Public Defenders office is responsible for defending those who are unable to afford a lawyer of their own.

It’s a legal defense of first and last resort for many.

Their work is the focus of a new book by Chicago journalist Kevin Davis.

It’s called Defending the Damned.

Davis spent years inside the office trying to understand the work and motivations of the lawyers who dedicate their lives to representing the worst of the worst.

He says it’s a journey that led him to the Murder Task Force.

Music Button: Dave Douglas  “Sapphire Blue Sky”  from the CD Keystone  (Greenleaf Music)