ICYMI: Recap of “Who’s Your Jailer?” Event—December 10, 2025

Criminal Courts, Events & MCLE Forums, Staff Updates , , , , , ,
Naomi and Austin smiling for a selfie at the "Who's Your Jailer?" event on December 10th.

On Wednesday evening, Naomi and I participated in a community teach-in, “Who’s Your Jailer?,” hosted by the Cook County Coalition for Prosecutor Accountability (C3PA), where we discussed Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s policies and their consequences. The panel also featured public defender Emmanuel Andre, police torture survivor and long-time advocate Mark Clements, and organizer Matthew McLoughlin and was moderated by researcher and PhD student Harley Pomper.

The panel gave us an opportunity to discuss some of our biggest concerns with O’Neill Burke’s policies. We talked about how, under her direction, the State’s Attorney’s Office has intensified Cook County’s criminalization of gun possession by implementing a blanket detention policy, excluding gun possession cases from the Restorative Justice Community Courts, and allowing police to bypass felony review. We emphasized how this last policy, along with the State’s Attorney’s choice to eliminate do-not-call and disclosure lists, reduces prosecutorial oversight of the Chicago Police Department. We also discussed how O’Neill Burke’s rollback of the transparency measures taken by her predecessor Kim Foxx, specifically the removal of downloadable data dashboards, has made researchers’ and journalists’ jobs much more difficult.

We are so grateful for all the community members who took time out of their evenings to listen to our concerns about transparency and accountability in the State’s Attorney’s Office. With more than 60 people in attendance, we got to speak with so many wonderful people following the panel, who we hope to work alongside in the future as we protect due process and advocate for decarceration.

C3PA is a collective of individuals and organizations dedicated to holding the elected Cook County State’s Attorney, and the prosecutors working under them, accountable to people most impacted by the harms of the criminal legal system. Member organizations include Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, Chicago Torture Justice Center, Stick Talk, MAMAS (Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition & Solidarity), Little Village Community Council, and more.

Austin Segal (they/he) is Chicago Appleseed’s Research Manager and our Jill Dupont Memorial Fellow. They studied sociology, mathematical methods in the social sciences, and legal studies at Northwestern University and wrote an interdisciplinary thesis with original research on the implementation of queer-inclusive educational policies. They have been involved in organizations that promote constructive dialogue and community organizing, and are deeply invested in supporting those harmed by the criminal legal system.

Donate to Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts →