Due Process Must Be Protected

--Sadaf Misbah, summer fellow at Chicago Appleseed   Over the weekend, President Trump proposed depriving undocumented immigrants of their due-process rights. In this message via Twitter, the President announced his intention to implement “zero tolerance” when it comes to immigrants crossing...

An Update from the Immigration Court Reform Advisory Committee Co-Chair

Proposing a New Model to Ensure Efficiency in the Courts, Creating a Manual for Practitioners, and More--Lisa Palumbo, Immigration Court Reform Advisory Committee Co-Chair The purpose is of the Immigration Court Reform Advisory Committee is to work together with stakeholders to create a more fair a...

California Votes to Downgrade Drug Crimes: Is Illinois Next?

On November 4, 2014, voters in California changed yesterday’s felony drug possession into today’s misdemeanor.  Voters passed a significant ballot measure, Proposition 47, a criminal reform initiative to dramatically reduce the punishment for a variety of crimes. The passage of Proposition 47 made C...

Guest Blog: Review of ‘The Interrupters’

by Jonathan Leithold-Patt, film critic There is too much violence in Chicago. It is a fact impossible to ignore. Turning on the nightly news or opening up the newspaper is a guaranteed reminder of the senseless deaths that could have, and should have, been prevented. Although there are less homicid...

Poor Defendants and Access to Justice

Submitted by Aswan Taylor, Chicago Appleseed Intern Last year, a Chicago Appleseed investigation found that Cook County courts were routinely denying defendants a public defense, or ordering reimbursement for public defenders’ services, simply because the defendant had posted bond. As noted in Ma...
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