Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts is a nonpartisan advocacy hub working to make the legal system fair, accessible, and effective. We fight for racial and economic equity by researching anti-racist solutions to systemic injustices and advocating for their implementation.
We operate with a small but dedicated group of paid staff, interns and law student fellows, and a corps of over 100 pro bono professionals – including lawyers, paralegals, judges, academics, social workers, community activists, and more – who conduct national best practices research and collect local front-line data to inform our work as we develop solutions and implementation strategies. Our endless list of community collaborations and coalitions continually inform and fundamentally guide our work, which is focused on criminal justice, access to justice, and economic justice for all.
ACCESS TO JUSTICE
Identifying and advocating for solutions to ineffective, inefficient, and unfair court management policies and procedures.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & POLICING
Addressing civil liberties issues that are both local and national in scope—including, importantly, police accountability in Chicago.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
We encourage safe and cost-effective alternatives to incarceration by partnering with government agencies and community organizations to address inequity in all areas of the criminal legal system.
FAMILY LAW
We advocate better policies and practices that disproportionately affect for low-income parents - mainly mothers - and children navigating the domestic relations and domestic violence courts and the Illinois child support system.
IMMIGRATION COURT REFORM
As part of the Appleseed Network Immigration Collaborative, we engage in projects to improve federal immigration court practices and policies.