Latest News - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

Hearing Officers in a Consolidated Domestic Relations Division

Three years after our Constitutionality analysis of the child support courts in the Cook County Domestic Relations Division, Presiding Judge Grace Dickler has issued an operations plan for consolidating the division. We are excited to announce that beginning in January 2017, the Domestic Relations D...

Chicago Appleseed & Other Advocates Prevent Proposed Budget Item That Would Harm Families of People Accused of Crimes

On Tuesday, November 15th, the Cook County Board considered numerous amendments to the county budget, including several amendments designed to provide resources to the Cook County Public Defender’s (PD’s) Office. Prior to the proposed amendments, the PD’s office was allotted $2 million les...

Anticipated Changes to Child Support Enforcement Guidelines

The Obama administration reportedly plans to make changes to regulatory rules governing child support obligations of incarcerated parents. The rule changes are designed to prevent large debt accumulation and ease the re-entry of parents upon release so they can fully meet parental responsibilities a...

Media Advisory: Historic Lawsuit Challenges Practice of Jailing People Too Poor to Pay Bond

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 24, 2016 Press Conference: Tuesday, October 25, 2016, 9:00AM Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law 375 E. Chicago Ave., 8th floor, Chicago, IL 60611 Contacts: Alexa Van Brunt, MacArthur Justice Center: 312-503-1336, a-vanbrunt@law.northwestern.edu Max S...

ACS Panel on Judicial Diversity

Staff attorney Elizabeth Monkus participated in a panel discussion with Justice Mary Jane Theis and Circuit Court judges Patrice Ball-Reed and Rossana Fernandez at the American Constitution Society’s first Midwest Convening on Saturday, October 15. The panel discussed diversity on the bench and The...