Jaclyn Hilderbrand
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Are You Proud of the Person Looking Back At You in the Mirror?
Perspective and mindset are interesting… Ten people can witness the exact same thing and take away completely different facts and feelings. Goes to show life isn’t black and white, just a whole lotta gray. You know embrace GRAYce 😉 For most of my adult life, I was convinced that I ran away from problems. Jackie…
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Human Beings in Chains: A Child’s View of the Criminal Justice System
“High and low of the day?” the Defense Attorney Mom asked her 7 year old son—she was especially curious about what he’d come up with after their action-packed “Take Your Child to Work” day. The question was a nightly occurrence at their house, but this was the first time he got to see his courageous,…
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Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, But Words Can Do More Damage
“At least you’re better to look at than your colleagues.” I blinked back at the Judge in silence, the optimistic smile slowly fading from my “better to look at” face. First time in 8.5 years appearing in a courtroom outside of toxic Will County bright eyed and excited for change… Welp. WWYD in my shoes?…
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It Broke My Heart AND Fixed My Vision—Part One
I’ve linked previous posts for context. I can’t shut up & love people. If you’re new here, Hi I’m Jackie! A “progressive” prosecutor passionate about learning how emotional intelligence impacts the justice system and how to make it better…. that’s what my LinkedIn says at least. End Goal? Making the world a more compassionate place…
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Sharpen the Saw
The importance of words nowadays is downplayed… “They’re just words”… or “Sticks & Stones”… In reality, words can slice like a saw—humans could benefit from being more mindful of the impact their words have on others, even if unintentionally harmful. It’s why I choose kindness as much as Jackie-ly possible. Although I do enjoy a…
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True Life: I’m a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)
It takes a lot of energy to be negative. A former gang member who served 14 years behind bars helped me to understand that. Funny. From my privileged perspective, America lives naively abundant. The world has evolved to a place where we have literal facts at our fingertips; yet, we choose to ignore those facts…
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Stop Accepting Breadcrumbs as a Meal
I’m poking the mama bears with this post 😳 My frustrations are at an all time high… This political season is like deja vu… reminds me of working in Will County. Please no, I don’t deserve that abuse again. I’ve taken my lashings and I’m still bandaging my wounds as they keep re-opening. The only…
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Character Over Reputation
It has been far too long since I’ve opened my loudmouth. How about three new posts in one weekend? I have been intentionally quiet. You seeeeee….. Playing games gives me a dopamine boost and I wanted the “big” “bad” patriarchal bears to think they shut me up with their passionate—albeit anonymous— letter. Trying to get…
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That’s Not MY Justice System
My 6 & 7 year old little girls love to read like their mama. One of our faves when they were babies was “That’s Not My Unicorn”. We live in a world of rainbows and unicorns at our house after all 😜 The pages show other unicorns with different attributes than “my unicorn” who you…
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False Dilemma Fallacy
I’ve linked previous posts for context throughout. I can’t shut up & love people. Like that. If you’re new here, Hi I’m Jackie! This blog revolves around unheard stories, like Mady, Anthony, Rob, Jaron, Justin, Robert, Callie, Sonya, the list goes on…. that all have a common theme of (in)justice. It’s been a rough, dark…
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How To: Save a Life in High Heels
I’ve linked previous posts for context throughout. I can’t shut up & love people. Like that. If you’re new here, Hi I’m Jackie! This blog revolves around unheard stories, like Mady, Anthony, Rob, Jaron, Justin, Robert, Callie, Sonya, Edward, the list goes on…. that all have a common theme of (in)justice. It’s been a rough,…
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Empathy is NOT an Endorsement
When I heard about the murder of Sonya Massey, my heart sank…Sangamon County is two hours from Mayberry where I currently prosecute. Fair warning, this video isn’t for the faint of heart. Sonya Massey shouldn’t be dead today. I’ll use Sonya’s name repeatedly in this post. I will refer to the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy…
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Know Better. Do Better.
…. But what if you don’t know better? Life is about perspective. Our opinions of the world are strongly guided by our own life experiences. When you stay in your own two shoes, you never have the opportunity to see the world from someone else’s perspective. The tragically beautiful stories in this blog may not…
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You’re Born Looking Like Your Parents, You Die Looking Like Your Decisions
We will call this part 2 of Ant’s Tragically Beautiful Story. You can find Part 1 here: What Happens When Government is the Problem AND Solution? Anthony’s chapter book isn’t over yet… you’ve met him in almost every blog post I’ve written. Our stories got tangled over the past few years and I’m working through the…
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Called “the Past” for Good Reason
I’ve linked content for context throughout this post. I can’t shut up & love people. Like that. If you’re new here, Hi I’m Jackie! This blog revolves around unheard stories, like Jaron, Mady, Anthony & Rob, that all have a common theme of (in)justice. It’s been a rough, dark storm. I’m hopeful for sunshine sooner…
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Why are you here?
I’ve linked content for context throughout this post. I can’t shut up & love people. Like that. If you’re new here, Hi I’m Jackie! This blog revolves around unheard stories, like Mady, Anthony & Rob, that all have a common theme of (in)justice. It’s been a rough, dark storm. I’m hopeful for sunshine sooner than…
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COMMUNI-tea Support for Callie
Empathy v. Compassion: What’s the Difference? Your FIRST installment in communi-TEA. Click here for context. What is it? Not too sure, but we will figure it out together. For now it’s a quick recap of my weekly little life lessons & the first idea I have for how we can come together to support our…
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The Post With More Redactions Than A FOIA’d Police Report 😬
This lil passion project has crossed more than 2k different eyes in just over a week. Found out there is a stats page, amongst other features, that come with a blog… I was confused on Thursday when I randomly started getting messages requesting a password for my new post… First thought: Mady’s tragically beautiful story…
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#ILoveJustice
Given my radical thinking about how the justice system should work, I often get asked in jest “Why aren’t you a Public Defender?” Well then…. I’d be considered a conformist instead of a troublemaker. That wouldn’t go along with one of my life mottos “Well Behaved Woman Rarely Make History”. Besides, as a PD I…
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The Beautiful Girl We Couldn’t Save
This content discusses the tragic life and death of Madalyn Nicole Popik, a young woman who faced significant challenges including abuse, trauma, and addiction. Despite her struggles, she showed resilience and strength, seeking to overcome her difficulties. The story also highlights the support and love she received from her friend, Callie, and the failures of…
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Real Life: I’m a 37 year old troublemaker.
I shared my first kind of opinion piece on a kind of controversial topic last week on a *gasp* professional social media site. Ego aside, I was scared to post my kind of opinion. Why? You’ll hear how my brain works later. What resulted from the post? Did the local news source frame me well…
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A Hero’s Journey from Combat War HERO to Street Junkie: Soldier Robin is Daddy Bird Rising
How does the government support & honor our Veterans who physically survived serving our country, but mentally lost their will to survive from the trauma of war? Veterans Day… Mediocre benefits at a lower disability rating than deserved… A lifetime of trauma with minimal resources to cope… Rip roaring addiction… The comfort of the four…
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If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything
My parents have always called me their little exclamation point, they may be regretting that right now — love you guys! My dad is my hero and embodied his motto of “do the right thing” throughout his 33 years in policing. I’m not saying he was a perfect cop, he’s human & created me after…
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What Happens When Government is the Problem AND Solution?
In August, I made the choice to leave a Problem Solving Court program I poured my heart and soul into. I cared too much about the participants and the Elected Official/my boss that started the program did not care enough about the People he took an oath to represent. That boss, a seven time elected…
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Homicidal Empathy is Fake News
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me…. true in the literal sense. We rely on words as a means to communicate and understand each other. Words are powerful especially when it’s easier in life to make assumptions/cast judgment versus be curious/ask questions. The article attached for example: “Homicidal Empathy:…
Embrace GRAYce 