Latest News
12.13.07
Cook County criminal courts overwhelmed, report says. Leaders say budget, staff cuts are biggest problem
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
Huge numbers of nonviolent drug offenders and mentally ill defendants have overwhelmed Cook County's criminal justice system, requiring new infusions of government spending to address the problem, a criminal justice advocacy group said in a report made public today.
12.13.07
Report: Cook Prisons Full of Non-Violent Offenders
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
Cook County's criminal justice system is overrun with non-violent offenders according to a new report by two watchdog groups. Malcolm Rich directs the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice, which released the report with the Chicago Council of Lawyers Thursday.
12.13.07
Criminal Courts Need Revamp, Group Says
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
A wide-ranging study released Thursday called for numerous criminal justice reforms, including in how Cook County deals with drug-addicted and mentally ill defendants.
12.01.07
Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty: A Policy Statement from the Chicago Council of Lawyers
Category: Policy Statements
A death penalty system that does not ensure the fair and just administration of law's ultimate punishment is reprehensible. Full implementation of essential safeguards designed to prevent wrongful imposition of the irrevocable sentence of death is more than an aspiration. It is a necessity. The Chicago Council of Lawyers believes that if Illinois is not wholeheartedly committed to enacting necessary reforms to a demonstrably broken system, the death penalty in this state should itself be extinguished.
11.28.07
A Report by Chicago Appleseed Identifies Opportunities for Funding and Engaging Parental Involvement Under NCLB
Category: Press Releases
The logic is simple: Children whose parents are involved in their education do better in school. Today, Chicago Appleseed released a report, The ABCs of Funding Parental Involvement in Education: Opportunities Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB or the Act) recommending ways for improving collaboration between parents and educators while identifying opportunities for funding parental involvement as mandated in Section 1118 under NCLB.
05.17.07
Appleseed Testifies Before House Financial Services Committee
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
Annette LoVoi, Appleseed's field director, testifies in Congress before the House Financial Services Committee about the need for financial fairness for immigrants, specifically through Appleseed's Fair Exchange program.
05.01.07
What is "Restorative Justice"? (and why don't Illinois offenders get it?)
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
"Tell it so someone may take heed!" she proclaimed at the end of an "Overcomers' Support Group" meeting at the Westside Health Authority (WHA) in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. Offering youth, employment, health and economic programs to Chicago's Far West Side, the WHA serves an area that suffers widespread crime, economic blight and social disintegration.
05.01.07
A Teacher's Day
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
A day in the life of Michael H. Brownstein, a teacher at a large inner city school district. High-stakes testing has ended, but there are still three more months left before summer vacation. With testing over, Brownstein shifts his focus to parental involvement, and Chicago Appleseed steps in to help.
02.12.07
No Child Left Behind: Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice Outlines Real Solutions for Parental Involvement in Illinois
Category: Chicago Appleseed In The News
Report details school-initiated, parent-cultivated, and community group-facilitated model to improve student achievement throughout Illinois.
02.12.07
Opening Pathways for Parental Involvement Under No Child Left Behind
Category: Press Releases
Few people would argue with the notion that parental involvement improves student success in school. Until now, however, little effort has been made to come up with systematic solutions for increasing the role parents play in their childrens education. In a new report, Improving Parental Involvement in Illinois Under the No Child Left Behind Act, Chicago Appleseed offers a model for creating organizational structures that foster parental involvement even in the most disadvantaged school districts.