Letter to the Editor of the Daily Law Bulletin

Our letter to the editor which ran in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on August 19, 2016 is reproduced below. Court costs, fines, fees: New approach needed now By Steven E. Art, Matthew McClellan Daniels, Erika M. Washington and Malcolm C. Rich The Collaboration for Justice is the joint social just...

The Job of Court Reform

Judge Sheryl Pethers has created a stir with her retirement announcement, which highlights aspects of her judicial service that left her concerned about the administration of the civil courts in Cook County. Chicago Appleseed has a long history of working with the courts, to improve deficiencies id...

Judicial Elections, Ethics Rules and the Ongoing Impact of Campaign Financing

The Tennessee Rules for judicial election campaign conduct are considered an excellent model for Supreme Court rules in jurisdictions that elect judges. In early December, the Tennessee Supreme Court amended the provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct regarding judges and judicial candidates’ ele...

Judge Gloria Chevere Re-Assigned for Wrongfully Jailing Defendants

Last week, the Chicago Tribune reported that Cook County Criminal Court Judge Gloria Chevere was re-assigned to a non-trial civil administration call, following a report that she was wrongly jailing defendants for contempt. The re-assignment order for Judge Chevere also assigns the Judge to a peer m...

Policy Statement on Docket Statistic Reporting

Chicago Appleseed advocates for research-driven solutions to systemic dysfunction and supports evidence-based reforms in Illinois’ courts, government and communities. Our staff and teams of pro bono professionals rely on meaningful data about Cook County’s courts in order to identify inefficiencies,...