Latest News

Criminal Justice Court Reform

• The Supreme Court heard argument in Tapia v. United States (10-5400) on the question of whether a district court may give a defendant a longer prison sentence to promote rehabilitation. SCotUSblog has documents and an argument recap. Questions of rehabilitation, recidivism and treatment are inextricable from criminal court reform, which is always on our mind here at Appleseed.

Judicial Elections

• The Chicago Tribune had an article about judge selection in Cook County, commenting on how House Speaker Michael Madigan and other politicians often weigh in on the selection of Cook County associate judges. Our Executive Director was quoted in the article.

• Harvard Law and Policy Review, “One Person, One Vote, One Donation”, part 1, part 2, part 3.

• Op-Ed at the NYTimes: You Get the Judges You Pay For by Erwin Chemerinsky and James J. Sample, advocating judicial campaign contribution restrictions and strict recusal rules for elected judges.

Immigration Court Reform

• The Executive Office for Immigration Review released its Immigration Judge Ethics and Professionalism Guide(.pdf) earlier this month. The Guide addresses issues of professionalism in the immigration courts, such as temperament and professional competence.

• The Immigration Policy Center also released its Second Annual DHS Progress Report, An Analysis of Immigration Policy in the Second Year of the Obama Administration. An audio briefing (.mp3), as well as the full report (.pdf), are available at their website.