Latest News
01.19.12
New Pro Bono Opportunities
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
Pro bono attorneys working with Chicago Appleseed work to promote systemic reform at the heart of local and state policies. Please visit our pro bono page to find out about the latest pro bono opportunities available.
01.13.12
Interview with Center for Court Innovation Director, Greg Berman
Category: Blog
Chicago Appleseed's Katy Welter recently conducted an interview with Center for Court Innovation Director and co-founder, Greg Berman for the University of Chicago’s policy publication, The Chicago Policy Review.
12.09.11
2011 State Judicial Directory Now Available!
Category: E-Newsletters
Since 1970, the Chicago Council of Lawyers has been evaluating State Judges in Cook County. Now in its Ninth edition, the current directory is a compilation of judicial evaluations from 1986 through March 2011 of Circuit Judges and Associate Judges in Cook County as well as Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Court Justices, First District.
11.30.11
Avery v. State Farm: Balancing Judicial Campaign Finance and the Need for Recusal Standards
Category: Policy Statements
Chicago Appleseed and the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform submitted an amicus brief, written by pro bono attorneys at DLA Piper, to the Illinois Supreme Court as it reconsidered Avery v. State Farm.
11.08.11
Law organization discusses judicial appointments, recall
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
Chicago Council of Lawyers published letter to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
11.05.11
Smart Criminal Justice Policies Gain Momentum in Chicago, Cook County
Category: Blog
County and City officials have taken bold yet prudent steps toward sensible, cost-effective public safety policies. The County has expanded use of electronic monitoring and the City is now considering issuing a fine in lieu of arrest for marijuana possession-a move many suburbs have already made. Both plans aim to relieve the mounting fiscal, political, and humanitarian costs imposed by crowded jails and overburdened police and courts. They also represent incremental steps toward fundamental, systemic reform.
11.02.11
Chicago Appleseed Fall Fundraising Luncheon
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
We would like to thank everyone who attended our annual fundraising luncheon. In addition, we want to thank: Senator Kwame Raoul - Keynote speaker and recipient of the Commitment to Justice Award for his successful effort to end the death penalty in Illinois; Cynthia Canary - Recipient of the Commitment to Justice Award for her tireless efforts to bring about reform of the Illinois political process - seeking new levels of transparency and ethics in Illinois government; and Professor John P. Heinz - Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication to bringing about reform through social science research, teaching, and helping nonprofit organizations reach their reform-minded goals.
11.01.11
Anonymity and Integrity in Researching Judicial Performance
Category: Blog
Recently, Chicago Appleseed was asked about unsolicited anonymous comments about judicial retention candidates and whether they play a role in the data collection for the Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County’s (the JPC) evaluations. The integrity of our data is paramount and we strive to use only valid sources of feedback. Nonetheless, the most valuable commentary we can collect from survey respondents is candid, honest commentary. In our data collection effort, therefore, we balance the privacy needs of data sources against our need to verify their responses. You can read this entire statement over at our blog.
10.28.11
From Our Blog: Links of Interest
Category: Blog
What We Read, October 24-28, 2011 Criminal Justice Court Reform: Special Rapporteur Juan Méndez addressed the announced that U.N. General Assembly in New York, discussing how solitary confinement violates the United Nations Convention against Torture. You can read more of this post over at our blog.
10.09.11
From Our Blog: Finding the "Fat Catchers" of Criminal Justice
Category: Blog
Cook County criminal justice can learn some valuable lessons from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Oakland A's. Namely, experts are often overconfident. They make mistakes because they see the world from a narrow, limited perspective, and they have inadequate, unsystematic information. Visit our blog to read more of this post.